


Stirring Winds

by starlitpurple



Series: Storm 'Verse [1]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-07
Updated: 2014-10-28
Packaged: 2017-12-10 18:07:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 46,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/788596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlitpurple/pseuds/starlitpurple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything changes when Roy gets called into Central by Fuhrer Grumman four years after the events of the Promised Day. It doesn't help that the Fullmetal Alchemist keeps invading his thoughts, either. (Pre Roy/Ed)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the story I did for Nanowrimo 2012. I've been poking at it here and there, and finally have something I'm comfortable with posting! Yay! Huge thanks to my wonderful betas, bay115 and tsukino_akume.

Central City Station had changed. At least since Brigadier General Roy Mustang had last seen it. When he'd left, he'd barely recovered from his newly restored eyesight—but the Central he left was in shambles, even outside of headquarters. The signs of war had been everywhere.

His eyes scanned the street as he exited the station. A few taxis dotted the curb. Less than usual, but there weren't many that took the first train of the day. The black military car sent to retrieve him sat at the back, engine running, waiting.

“I hope you haven't been waiting long,” he said as he opened the back door, tossing in his travel bag and coat, before climbing in. “Train was about ten minutes off schedule.”

The soldier in the front seat nodded. “Odd, since it's the early train.”

Roy started to nod and then stopped, head snapping around to scrutinize his driver. That voice...

“Don't worry, I wasn't waiting too long. Boss.”

Roy could hear the grin in his former subordinate's voice before he tugged off his military hat and turned around.

“Jean Havoc.” Roy's smile was probably just as huge.

“At your service, Sir.” He tapped a couple fingers to his brow, and turned back at Roy's mirrored salute. A beat later he was turning back around to hand him a cup. “Your coffee.”

He smiled appreciatively as he took the cup. “You reenlisted.”

Havoc smirked at the rear view mirror. “Had to 'catch back up', if I recall.” His eyes fell to the road as they pulled out onto the street.

“Mmm,” Roy acknowledged as he took a sip of his coffee. It was no longer the usual scalding temperature of fresh coffee, but it wasn't yet lukewarm. But after the long morning train ride from East City and the cool autumn chill it was _glorious_. All this time and Havoc still knew how he liked his coffee.

The drive through Central wasn't long, and conversation was lost in favor of observing the newly recovered, rebuilt, Central. Headquarters was still as prominent as it was before the Promised Day, at least from the exterior.

When they pulled up, Havoc hopped out and got the door, saluting with a broad grin as Roy stood. Instead of returning the salute, he put his hand on his shoulder, noticing the extra star there just before he covered it. Suppressing a smile of his own—just seeing Havoc on his feet and back in the military, it was hard not to grin like an idiot—he squeezed the shoulder and said, “Glad to have you back, _First_ Lieutenant.”

There was so much left unsaid in that statement. He wanted to say so much more. _'Glad you're on your feet again.' 'Congrats on your promotion.'_ But he hadn't needed to, Havoc seemed to get it all the same. Moments later Havoc shook his head and threw a glance at Headquarters.

“You should go, Sir. Your meeting.” He was already stepping back toward the driver's side door.

“Right.” He was running late, after all. But... “Hey Havoc, how about some drinks at Madame Christmas's later tonight? Eight o'clock? I hear her new place is nice.”

“Sounds good to me,” he replied with a jaunty little wave before he disappeared into the car once more.

* * *

Ed growled as he landed hard on his right shoulder, rolling back onto his feet. Something popped and sent a twinge of pain through the base of his automail, but he squared his face and glared hard at his opponent. Or he would have been, if the guy was still there. Ed whipped around to check the alleyway behind him, this time wincing a bit when his automail twinged again, but there was nothing but a stray cat they had scared off when their scuffle had taken them into the alley.

He turned back and ran to the corner of the building, flattened himself against the wall, and then leaned around to check the street. But there was nothing. They were gone.

Ed growled again, relaxing enough to massage his shoulder a bit, before clapping away his blade arm.

“ _'Investigate the disturbances,'_ ” he grumbled lowly to himself as he headed in the vague direction of his hotel. “Could have mentioned there was more than one person involved...”

Mustang was definitely going to hear about this when he got back.

* * *

In all the ways HQ had changed, it was still the same. Roy's boots clicked softly down the new hallway to the Fuhrer's office. The last time he'd been here, HQ was still being rebuilt—or so he'd heard. His meeting had been off-campus at the current Fuhrer's new home. It had gone so fast that Roy was in and out of Central in a day and hadn't had time to take in any of the changes.

The halls were empty but for a few of the early-comers, some who nodded or saluted as he passed, and of course a few of the higher-ups left over from Bradley's rein that only acknowledged him by the barely concealed scowl as he passed. They had weeded out the officers that had been involved with Father's plans, but there was a portion of the military that still believed in Bradley's ways of running the country.

Just as he approached the door he was looking for, the knob turned and opened. Major General Armstrong paused in surprise before stepping through. “You're late, Mustang,” she said by way of greeting.

“Ahh Major General, it's been a while. I've missed your charm.”

She glared at him but didn't rise to it in response, surprisingly. “Well, you'll have to wait until next time I'm in Central for more of it, I'm afraid. I've got a train back up north in an hour.”

Roy's eyebrows rose. So soon? “Trouble on the border?”

She scoffed. “I know you've heard about it by now, Mustang.” She sobered. “It's getting pretty active. We're having skirmishes with Drachman troops almost every other day now. How's Major Miles?” she asked without missing a beat.

“He's doing well. He has made negotiations with the Ishvallans much more...manageable.”

“I imagine, after _your_ past with them.”

Roy didn't reply, idly brushing his bare fingers together.

“Anyway, you take good care of my man, Mustang. He's a good Briggs soldier.”

Roy nodded and saluted. “I will, and good luck, General.”

For some reason, she smirked as she returned the salute. “You too, Mustang.”

Before he could ask she had breezed past him, clearly done talking to him. He shook his head and continued on into the Fuhrer's outer office. The secretary was failing at her attempt to conceal that she'd been eavesdropping on the two of them, and it was all Roy could do to hide his smirk.

“Brigadier General Roy Mustang to see Fuhrer Grumman,” he announced, probably unnecessarily—but it snapped the secretary out of her embarrassment.

“Yes, go on in. He's waiting to see you, Sir.”

Roy nodded, walking over and opening the door into the Fuhrer's inner office. Grumman wasn't anywhere to be seen, but the chessboard sitting prominently on his desk, all set up and ready to play, was as familiar as it was unsettling. His reasoning for calling him to Central so urgently would either be a normal meeting where they played chess for sport while they talked, or very bad news. So bad that it had to be coded within said game of chess.

Roy had gotten good at reading into hidden chess messages from his former superior—though he was still his superior even now, but Fuhrer of the country was a bit different to head General of East City.

He picked up the white queen piece, thinking back to the last game he played with Grumman before he'd been transferred to Central under Bradley's rule.

Riza had been at his side since the War of Ishval, and went back with him. He never imagined she'd find someone during the restoration, and he'd been surprised when he learned about it, but she seemed happy, so he let it be. He smirked to himself as he wandered briefly what Armstrong would think about their subordinates' new relationship. Relations with Ishval weren't the only reason Miles had stayed with them as long as he had. After the loss of his wife in the aftermath of the Promised Day, Mustang had been surprised that he stayed on with the Ishval assignment. He'd given Miles the option to go back to Briggs if he wanted, but he'd turned down the offer, stating simply that he still had work to do here.

“Ahh, Roy.”

Roy startled, fumbling the chess piece, which slipped from his fingers and bounced across the floor, rolling to a stop against Grumman's boot.

He laughed and bent to pick up the piece. “Careful now, this set's an antique. I didn't mean to startle you.”

“Sorry, Sir, was lost in thought.”

“Easy to do,” he replied easily. He moved to his desk and sat down, waving his hand at the chair on the opposite side. “Please, sit.”

Roy did, taking off his hat as he did so.

After a beat, Grumman said “I hear things in Ishval are going well. Quite well, if I've read correctly.” He picked up a nearby file on his desk. “Schools up and functioning, religious buildings restored, economy on the rise...”

Roy nodded as he read off the specs Hawkeye had very likely typed up and he'd signed off on. “Yes, Sir. They're nearly self-supporting and fully functioning now.”

The Fuhrer smiled, closing the file folder. “Good. You're going to be transferring to Central next week. Your entire office.”

Roy blinked. “Uh...Sir?”

“Unless you have any objections? You said yourself that the Ishvallans are self-supporting and fully functioning presently, correct?”

Roy frowned, not knowing where this was going. “Yes Sir, but--”

“Then they will be okay if military presence is pulled out of there, right? As I recall, you've had most everyone pulled back to East City for a couple months now yes?” Grumman eyed him knowingly.

“I—yes, Sir. They should be fine to stand on their own without military presence.”

The old man smiled. “Good, then. That's settled. Now,” he gestured at the board on his desk, “white or black?”

* * *

_“Hey, Roy-Boy. How was the meeting? Old Grumman didn't give you a hard time did he?”_ The scratchy voice of his aunt rattled down the line at him.

He toyed with the chess piece now residing in his pocket: the white king. “It went well. Actually, I'm going to be moving back to Central.”

_“Glad to hear it. It'll be nice being able to keep an eye on you again.”_

He shook his head. Thirty-four years old and she still saw him as a kid that needed watching. “Anyway, I've got a little time on my hands before I have to be back to East City and I thought I'd stop by. I've been wanting to see the new establishment.”

He heard her exhale a puff of smoke before she responded. _“Good. We need to catch up.”_

Roy frowned. That was her 'I mean business' voice.

“I'll see you soon, Madame.”

_“I'll be waiting.”_

* * *

Forehead against the cool tile, Ed closed his eyes, letting the hot spray cascade down his back. It felt utterly _amazing_ on his shoulder, which was still shooting pains into his port when he moved his arm wrong.

He was going to have to make a trip to Rush Valley soon. Dammit. He sighed as he reached for the shampoo, then winced and cursed under his breath when he used his right arm, nearly dropping the bottle before he could squeeze what he needed into his left hand.

Definitely going to have to go to Rush Valley. Damn it all to hell.

He kind of wished Al wasn't in Xing right now. Of course, if he wasn't, he'd be here, in the military, with him, and—very likely—on this same mission with him. Which is exactly what he didn't want. Though, he admitted to himself belatedly, he could have used his help.

He would totally bully him about avoiding Winry and convince him to go talk to her. To be honest, he didn't even know himself why he was avoiding her. Things hadn't ended badly—they'd actually broken up amicably. They'd tried being together—Ed had even thought of proposing—but they were being pulled in different directions and things just didn't work out. She was being pulled by her automail responsibilities in Rush Valley, and he inevitably was pulled by his responsibilities in the military. They had agreed to part as friends, and things had initially felt like they'd gone back to normal again. Mostly. It was a weight he didn't know he had off his shoulders.

But now... Well. It'd been months since he'd seen her, and even longer since he'd been out to Rush Valley. They'd both stayed in Risembool until Al had decided to go to Xing to study alkahestry. After that, Ed went to East City to get his new assignment. Mustang had given him as much time as he wanted to spend with Al after the Promised Day's events. So once he was gone, there was nothing left but to go back. It was too quiet, and he couldn't stand the awkwardness in the air between him and Winry. And, to be honest, he kind of missed the traveling. Shortly afterward—the last time he'd had a proper tune-up on his automail—Winry told him she was going back to Garfiel's in Rush Valley.

And that was that.

He ground his fingers into his scalp as he rinsed his hair out under the spray. It wasn't like he hadn't needed a tune-up before this mess tonight, he needed to get that plate he'd cracked on his leg several weeks ago replaced, and he wasn't sure but he thought he'd grown a bit taller since she'd last adjusted it.

He grabbed the tiny little complimentary bar of soap the hotel supplied in all the rooms and started washing his body—minding the cut just above his hip, which he'd acquired from the idiot with the concealed knife he hadn't seen until the last minute. It was a bit awkward doing most of the washing one-handed, but he didn't want to bother with moving his arm much. His luck he'd screw it up worse before he got her to check it out.

He should call her. What time was it anyway? He groaned as he stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around himself before stepping out into the room to grab a change of clothes. He snatched his—now unsealed—pocket watch off the night stand on his way past, and popped it open. 7:53 in the evening. It was late, but she was probably still up. Not to mention it was less likely she was with a customer.

Carefully, he eased his tank over his head. The automail creaked a bit, but he'd aborted the motion before he'd moved it too far and finished tugging it on with his left hand. His boxers and pants were a little easier to do, since he didn't have to lift his arm much.

The wet strands laying over his shoulders were annoying, and he tugged at it as he thought about trying to do alchemy with his arm all messed up. In the end, he decided it was worth it to try, and tapped his left hand against his right, before activating the transmutation single-handedly. It hadn't completely dried his hair, but it was more tolerable than it had been anyway, and he hadn't wrenched his arm to do it. He was calling it a success.

He sat down on the bed, staring at the phone. _Just call her_ , a voice sounding strangely like Al's said in his head. _It's not going to get any easier unless you talk to her._

“Yeah, yeah...” Ed glared across the room. He sat there for a moment contemplating the phone. He reached out, took a breath, picked it up and started to dial.

* * *

The news wasn't good. Hand to his forehead, frowning furiously, Roy took a deep breath. “The attacks on the border. You think they're connected?”

Madame Christmas took a long drag on her cigarette and blew it out. “Hard to say, kid. We haven't picked up on any connections between this splinter group and Drachma so far, but that doesn't mean anything. They seem to be former Bradley Loyalists, though, from what we've gathered so far.”

Roy pulled the white king chess piece from his pocket—the establishment was mostly empty other than the girls that worked for his mother, so it was safe enough. Not to mention that, other than his direct subordinates (current and former), his mother was probably the only one who would fully understand its meaning anyway. He let it rest in his palm for her to see, eyes still on the piece and thinking back to the conversation in Grumman's office.

“So that's it, huh.” 

Roy nodded.

“And he's giving it to you?”

He nodded again. “I'm assuming that's what this means, anyway.” He gestured with the piece.

They both looked up as the door opened, and Roy pocketed the piece as Havoc ambled in. Roy looked back at his aunt as one of the girls greeted Havoc loudly, and she caught his eye meaningfully. “Watch yourself, kid. You might have defeated Father and his gang, but there's still dangerous waters out there.”

* * *

Ed slammed the phone into its cradle for a second time. Why was this so hard? It was just a stupid phone call, to a girl that was one of his closest friends. Hell, she was almost like his sister.

Stealing himself, he reached for the receiver once more, dialing before he could rethink it. One ring...two rings... After the third he barely stopped himself from hanging up, and after the fifth ring, someone answered.

_“Um, this is Garfiel's, but if you're calling about automail, they're closed for the even--”_

“Paninya?”

_“Whoa, Ed? Is that you? --Hey Garf, Ed's on the phone!-- I'm assuming you wanna talk to Winry, huh.”_

“Uh, yeah. She around?”

_“Did you break your automail again? She says that's the only time you ever call. Either she's in serious danger, the world's in serious danger, or you're annoyed with your automail enough to call about it. Please tell me it's not the end of the world thing again.”_

“Wha—I don't—no, the world isn't ending. That I know of. Fuck, can I talk to Winry?”

_“Aren't we in a good mood this evening. Actually, you just missed her. She drew the short straw tonight. Just went out to pick up supper for everyone. She should be back in ten to twenty.”_

“Oh, uh. Okay. Well. Just tell her I called, would you? I'll just try again later.”

_“Where are you? What's your number? I could just have her call when she gets back.”_

“No, don't worry about it. I'm staying in a hotel for the night anyway, so I don't know the number. And it's been kind of a long day, I'll probably just crash early.”

_“Oh, okay then. I'll tell her. ...And Ed? She really misses you.”_

“Yeah, me too.”

_“Good night, Ed.”_

“Night.”

* * *

Roy was rubbing his brow again when Havoc sat on the stool next to him. He let out a low whistle, eyes trailing between Roy and the Madame.

“Whoa I'm getting the feeling that I just walked into a bad conversation. At least from the looks on your faces. Should I...leave?” He pointed a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the door.

Madame Christmas smiled as she snuffed out her cigarette in the ashtray. “Of course not. My establishment is always open to you. I'm surprised you didn't bring that Rebecca girl with you this time. What'll you have?”

He cocked his head at Roy. “Whatever you're serving him. And Rebecca's working late tonight, so she couldn't come.”

Roy cocked his head at Havoc as his mother sat drinks in front of the two of them. “Rebecca... You don't mean Catalina, do you?”

Hawkeye probably knew. He hadn't really been keeping up with relationships. Well, other than her and Miles, but he worked with the two of them daily, and she was his best friend. And well, Fullmetal was loud enough about his love life it was hard for anyone not to know about it. He was pretty sure he and his mechanic had split up, for real this time. Or so he'd said, anyway. Roy wouldn't be surprised if he came into his office next week confused about the Rockbell girl all over again.

Havoc nodded at him with a little doofy smile on his face. “Yep, Catalina. She helped me through a lot of my recovery. We've been together a while.”

“Aww, I'm glad you two are still together, you make a cute couple!” Vanessa crowed from Roy's other side. “So Roy,” he tried not to jump when she poked his side. He mostly didn't. “What about you? Any new love interest?”

For some reason, his first thought was of Fullmetal and his failed relationship. Then the girl he'd talked to a little just after moving back to East City—the first date he'd been on in a while. She was an old fling from just after the war, a pretty girl, but they'd both changed and drifted, and he had the feeling that she was just as relieved when the date was over as he'd been.

“No, no one new, Vanessa. Besides, I don't have time for one.”

She hugged him from the side and announced, “We should toast!” She released him and picked up her own glass, waiting patiently until he and Havoc picked up their own. “To life and love!”

“That's so generic,” Havoc put in.

“To the future,” Madame Christmas amended with a nod at Roy, holding up her own glass.

He lifted his glass and drank, trying to ignore the twist in his gut. His mother believed in him, his family believed in him. And even though Havoc didn't know the details, he was, as he'd always been, unfailingly loyal, tossing a smile Roy's way and murmuring “the future” with the others.

He just hoped the future didn't involve walking directly into the mess looming on the horizon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well the plan was to do a weekly posting of what I've gone through and edited, but that seems to be failing by a couple days already. *laughs* Thanks for reading the first chapter! I hope you're enjoying it so far! (Thanks for the kudos! ♥) I have edits up through the next chapter, but hopefully I'll be getting more up soon!

_“This container won't last much longer.”_

_He could feel the thin black tendrils digging into his flesh as it held him spread eagle, Pride continuing to talk over his screams._

_“But still, like my father is, you are of Hohenheim's bloodline, so we're virtually brothers. Which means,_ Edward Elric _, I can use your container. Your body belongs to me!”_

Ed awoke with a start, jerking to a sitting position. His insides rolled with the memory. Most of his memories following that were muddled, but he could remember the awful violating feeling of being used. Those black tendrils shooting out from his own body against his friends and allies. Mustang, his Teacher...Al, newly restored to his weak, malnourished body. His stomach dropped a little further at the thought.

Seconds later he was propping himself up on porcelain edges in the bathroom as he emptied the contents of his stomach—the measly little overpriced meal he'd gotten from the food service cart last night after his call to Rush Valley.

He stood on shaky legs, leaning against the counter while he brushed his teeth. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror as he toweled his face off and winced at how pale he was. Like he needed nightmares on top of everything else right now.

Feeling a bit more stable—though still a little queasy—he made his way back into his room. It was early. Early enough it was still dark out, though he could see the signs of dawn on the horizon out of his window. His eyes strayed to the bed, mourning the sleep he'd lost, but there was no way he was going back to bed now.

Maybe he'd just catch the early train back. He scowled as his stomach growled loudly. Maybe after he'd eaten a decent meal, then.

* * *

Roy's head was pounding. He groaned, squinting against the strip of sunlight seeping through the narrow slat where the curtains met. He threw an arm over his eyes and rolled away from the window.

A hangover? He hadn't had that much the night before. Two drinks? Unless his mother had mixed one of them with something stiff. Although, he had tasted that new drink of hers last night. Might have been that, then.

With the day he'd had yesterday, he wouldn't be surprised if Madame Christmas _hadn't_ slipped him something.

He opened his eyes once more, glad when his headache didn't instantly intensify. Maybe he wasn't that hungover after all. Either way, he needed coffee. He sat up and glanced at the clock.

Well, it could be worse. The early train was leaving in ten minutes. No way he'd make that. If he hurried about getting breakfast he could catch the next one out, though. That would do.

He stopped in at the little diner next to the hotel for a coffee, sucked it down in less than five minutes—nearly scalding his tongue, and got a second to go.

The train station was three blocks away and he had fifteen minutes. He almost wished he hadn't turned down Havoc's offer to come pick him up now. But then again he hadn't planned on a hangover delaying his day. The morning air was chilly, and by the time he got to the station—with three minutes to spare—he was holding his long-coat closed and he'd nearly finished his coffee.

He quickly boarded the train, ignoring the amused look he got from the man that checked his ticket, found an empty compartment, and set his bag down, taking a seat next to the window. Something dug into his hip and he reached into his pocket. His fingers brushed against the chess piece.

When the train started moving, Roy was lost in thought, taking stock of the previous day.

* * *

Well fed and back in East City, Ed had decided his first stop would be Eastern HQ before he headed back to his apartment. His arm had been mostly manageable today, though it still hurt if he moved it at a certain angle. He didn't want to think about the next trip he'd likely be making. But now he had a report to turn in, and an earful for Mustang to hear.

The outer office had the usual suspects. Breda was hovering by the coffeepot; Miles was bent over something at his desk; and Fuery was frowning as he fiddled with something, free hand on the headset over his ears.

Hawkeye walked out of Mustang's inner office, a small stack of files propped on her arm, and caught sight of Ed in the doorway. She smiled at his scowl. “Morning Edward.”

“Morning,” he grumped, nodding toward the door at her back. “He in?”

She shook her head. “His train doesn't get in for another hour.”

Ed frowned. “Train? Where did he go? Something happen with Ishval?” His eyes trailed over to Miles, still stooped calmly over his paperwork, seemingly ignoring him.

“He was called into Central to meet with Fuhrer Grumman.” She walked over to her own desk and sat the files down in a neat stack.

Ed paused. Central? “Did something happen?”

“Not that we know of,” Breda replied as he turned, freshly made coffee in the cup in his hand. He frowned as Ed glanced his way. “Hey, you okay? You're looking a little pale.”

Ed nodded him off, moving toward the nearest seat—Breda's abandoned one—to sit. He mostly covered the wince when he forgot about his arm, but Hawkeye was frowning worriedly at him when he looked up.

Miles had turned away from his paperwork. “The situation on the northern border is getting more serious, I've heard.”

Hawkeye looked his way. “You think that's what this was about?”

He shrugged. “Could be.”

“Unless it has something to do with the idiots I had to deal with,” Ed put in.

“The disturbances up near New Optain?” Hawkeye was studying him more closely now. “What happened up there?”

Ed scoffed. “We were wrong in thinking it was just a one person operation.”

“Not an alchemist, then?” Breda put in.

“Oh they had alchemists,” Ed grumbled, left hand unconsciously moving to his shoulder. “Three of them that I saw, but I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't more. Whole fucking group came out of nowhere.”

Miles and Hawkeye shared a look. “This is bigger than we thought then. This isn't good.”

Miles shook his head.

“That could be what's up with the radio, then,” Fuery piped in. He had apparently fixed whatever he was working on, and was listening to the room with one ear, the other still covered by the headset.

Ed frowned. “What's wrong with the radio?”

“Well, nothing really. It's just been quieter than normal. It's kind of ominous. There's usually quite a bit of chatter, but everything I've caught lately has been in some seriously complicated code. I haven't been able to crack it yet.”

Ed was getting worried now. “Maybe that _is_ what Mustang was called to Central for.”

Hawkeye looked around the room, catching everyone's eye before saying. “Either way, we should wait for the Brigadier General's return to talk about this more.”

That was that, then.

Sighing, Ed nodded. “I'll be back in an hour. I'm going to drop my things off at my apartment.”

She nodded in return. “We'll see you then, Edward.”

* * *

Ed's instincts went on high alert as he keyed himself into his apartment. Someone was here. He quietly sat his bag down, leaning it against the wall. Just as he was contemplating risking his automail by transmuting his blade, a voice sounded from the direction of the kitchen.

“Brother, is that you?”

“Al?” He followed the voice into the kitchen. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in Xing learning alkahestry.”

Al was filling himself a glass of water from the tap. He offered it to Ed, but he shook his head. “Well, I was.” He took a drink and sat the glass on the counter. “But they're having their own trouble out there, and Mei doesn't really have time to teach me right now. I have the basics down though, and I've been trying to incorporate it into my alchemy.”

He looked like he was about to say more, but instead he frowned, stepping toward Ed. “You okay, Brother? You were on an assignment from the Brigadier General right? Did that go badly?”

Ed sighed. No reason hiding it from Al. He'd see straight through anything he told him otherwise anyway. “Something's going on. Something pretty big.”

Al eyed him sideways. “Big like _Father_ big, or just,” he waved a hand through the air, “Bad.”

“Bad.” He leaned back against the counter as he explained. “Mustang sent me to check out some disturbances up near New Optain. From the sound of it, we thought it was just some alchemist messing with things, but there's a whole group. Pretty organized too. Some kind of rogue faction of some sort. Kept spouting shit about Bradley and how the country used to be, like it was some great fucking way to live when he was Fuhrer.” He scoffed, digging the toe of his boot into the floor.

Al was frowning. “Maybe I should--”

Ed growled. “Dammit, Al. You're not joining the military.”

Al shot him an amused look. “It is my choice you know. I could if I wanted, I'm even of age. You stayed after all.” 

“That was because--”

“Because why, Brother? Because you feel like you owe everyone for Pride?” 

Ed winced at Al's tone. After this morning's nightmare, he really didn't want to get into this. He'd never admitted to Al that his guilt wasn't the only reason he'd stayed in the military. Besides the fact that he had to make sure Mustang fulfilled his promise to him, to be honest, he hadn't known what else to do with himself. Especially with Al gone. 

“That wasn't your fault, Ed. That wasn't you.”

“Yeah.” Ed closed his eyes and exhaled, pushing himself away from the counter. Al followed him into the living room. He seemed to realize how much it was bugging him though, and didn't say anything more about it.

Ed flopped onto the couch, hoping Al didn't hear that little creaking noise from his automail when he did it a bit too carelessly.

“I missed you, Brother,” he said as he sat down in the armchair by the window.

Maybe he didn't hear it then. Good.

Something occurred to him then, and he sat up, frowning at Al. “How did you know where my apartment was anyway? You were already in Xing when I moved.”

Al smirked at him. “I stopped in at HQ first and asked where you were. When they told me you were on assignment for Mustang, I got your address from Major Hawkeye.”

Ed humphed. “Nice of her to let me know about it.”

“Maybe she just wanted to surprise you, Brother.” He picked up an old book off of the floor, brushing the dust off. “Did you notice? I cleaned the place up a bit. Hadn't gotten to the living room yet, though.” He shook his head, holding up the book as he spoke. “Geez, Brother, do you ever clean?”

He shrugged. “What? I'm not trying to impress anyone. And I'm never here, so what's the point. I just use this place to sleep when I am. ...How long have you been here anyway?”

Al mirrored Ed's shrug. “Couple of days, but I spent my first day crashed out on your couch.”

Ed didn't doubt it. The trip from Xing was long enough without adding in the fact that you had to cross a fucking desert. 

“You turn in your report already?” Al asked as he thumbed through the alchemy tome in his lap. It wasn't any light reading, but Ed had a feeling Al had either seen this particular one before, or was just getting a general idea about it beforehand.

“No, I'm heading back in about an hour. Mustang wasn't there.”

Al's hand stopped on the page he was on and he looked up. “What? He was there when I came in. Where did he go?”

“Grumman called him to Central for something. I don't know why yet, but the office seemed pretty worried about it. Anyway, I guess I'll find out when I take in my report.”

“Can I come?”

Ed huffed out a laugh. “I don't care. Be easier if I don't have to tell it all to you later, I guess. Might as well.”

It was silent a moment, and Ed let his eyes slide closed. He really was tired. Fucking nightmare. This day wasn't going well at all. And by the sound of things, it was probably only going to get worse.

Before he could dwell more on that mess, Al distracted his thoughts. “So Brother, what happened to your automail, and why are you avoiding Winry?”

* * *

Roy hated long train rides. There was nothing to do but read, nap, or think. Or talk if you had someone to talk to, but Roy didn't feel too up to conversation anyway. Reading was out of the question. He'd tried reading the morning paper he'd hastily bought before he'd boarded, but he couldn't make himself concentrate enough. Napping was out too. He'd never been good at sleeping on trains, even as a kid. Which left thinking. He had enough to think about. More than enough.

The Drachman attacks on the Northern border, this Bradley loyalist splinter group his mother told him about, and, oh yeah, both at a time when he was pretty sure he was about to be handed control of the country. This whole plot was getting better and better.

At least Ishval was taken care of. He'd order the last little bit of military back to East City as soon as he got back to his office. Scar would still be there, at least, and Miles kept in contact with him. They'd know if there were any problems after the full pull out.

Miles was going to have to make a choice again. Grumman wanted him to bring his people with him, which included Hawkeye. But realistically, Miles was better suited to stay in East City until they were certain about Ishval. Scar should be enough, but he wouldn't refuse it if Miles decided to go to Central with them.

He couldn't help but think of the last time he transferred to Central. Bad things had been brewing up all over the country. Transmutation circles and homunculi. His best friend murdered to hide the biggest cover up of all. He was feeling that same ominous feeling as that uncertain time when he'd been “promoted” to Central.

He just hoped it wouldn't be near as bad as sacrificing a country. He'd say he couldn't believe it would ever happen again, but when it had nearly happened once...

He looked out of the window, watching the fields of eastern Amestris slide by in a blur. The weather seemed to match his mood. It had been cloudy since he'd left Central, and if he didn't know any better, he'd swear they were moving East with him. Just in time to pour down when he was getting in to East City, likely. He sighed, a circle of fog clouding the window with his breath. He stared at it until it cleared, and when it had evaporated, he could see the faint skyline of East City. 

They were in the outlying area of East City now. It wouldn't be much longer. This had felt like one of the longest train rides he'd ever been on. At least the next one he'd have his team with him. It was an oddly comforting thought. He'd have something to distract him next time. Though traveling with them had its own downsides, he'd much prefer it to a repeat of this train ride.

Time seemed to drag between there and the station. By the time the brakes were screeching on the tracks, Roy had already gathered his things and stood, eager to get off. He braced himself on the seat to keep his balance as they slowed to a stop.

He positively beamed when he caught sight of Lieutenant Ross waiting patiently for him with a car as he exited the station. She did her best to hide her smile as she saluted him.

“Long ride, Sir?”

“If I never had to ride a train again, it'd be too soon,” he replied. “I hope you haven't been waiting since the first train. I had a bit of a late start.” He hadn't had time to call this morning. Not to mention it had only occurred to him that he should have called once his train was already halfway to East City.

“I wasn't.” When he paused in climbing into the car to look at her, she told him simply, “Madame Christmas called, Sir.”

He laughed, shaking his head as he climbed in and shut his door. “Of course.”

* * *

His office was buzzing. Full of all his people and so much tension and worry in the air it was almost a tangible thing.

Fullmetal was still on a tirade, though he'd mostly petered out after his initial frustrations were out on the table. He wasn't yelling anymore, at least. Although that could be because Al was there too; it was kind of hard to tell. Either way, Roy was rather thankful for whichever it was. If Al's presence made him more mild-tempered, Roy would just have to have him around his office more often, especially with everything about to be thrust on his plate. Maybe he would go to Central with them.

Right. There was that too. So much to tell his team and little time to do it in. He was supposed to be back in Central within a week. That didn't give him much time to do what he needed to before he left.

Holding his hand up, he waited until the room got quiet—which involved shooting a pointed look at Fullmetal before his ranting came to a halt on a glare—then looked at Hawkeye. “Get me a call through to Ishval.”

She looked at him in concern, but moved toward his office.

“Sir?” Miles, of course.

“I'm pulling all existing military occupation out of Ishval effective immediately,” he explained. Seeing the question in Miles' eyes, he continued. “Scar will stay and be our liaison. And, after I debrief everyone after this call, you can decide what you want to do.”

He looked confused, but he nodded without question.

“So what'd Grumman want?” Ed demanded grumpily, and Roy barely resisted rolling his eyes. Of course he couldn't stay quiet.

He could almost feel how much the entire room wanted to hear the answer to that question, though. It wasn't just Fullmetal, his entire team was worried. Hopefully what he had to tell them wouldn't be as bad as they were thinking.

Not likely, but hopefully...

“That's why there is going to be a _debriefing_ , Fullmetal.”

Ed glared at the reprimand, but didn't say anything more.

“Sir?” Hawkeye was back, standing in the doorway to his inner office. She waited until he shifted his attention from Fullmetal to continue. “I've got Ishval for you.”

He sighed. This was going to be a fun conversation. “Thank you, Major.” She eyed him worriedly once more as he stepped past her, and he gave her what he hoped was a convincing smile. From the look on her face as he headed into his office, she'd seen right past it.

* * *

Ed was massaging his shoulder again. Al wondered if he even realized he was doing it. Glancing across the room, he could see Lt. Ross eying Ed as well. Al caught her eye and she nodded toward Ed, frowning, as if to say “ _he okay?_ ” Al shrugged and shook his head, rolling his eyes.

When he looked back at Ed, he was staring at the two of them, very pointedly _not_ rubbing his shoulder now. “What?” Ed said.

“I didn't know it was bothering you this much, Brother. You need to go see Winry.” He'd pitched his voice low to keep from anyone overhearing, but Breda had turned in interest, and Maria was still attentively watching them.

He let out a huff of air. “It's not bothering me, Al. And I am going to see her. Soon. Eventually.”

Al eyed him. “You were rubbing it just now.”

“It's not _that_ bad. I was just...massaging it a little.”

“And you're hair's not braided today because...” Al didn't know why he was baiting him. Maybe it was just because he'd been away so long. Either way, he'd still make sure Ed paid a visit to Winry soon. He wouldn't mind the visit himself, actually. It'd be good to see her.

“Fine,” Ed ground out. “Because it hurts like hell to move my automail. Happy?”

Al sobered. “I'm never happy when you're hurt, Ed. There's no point in avoiding your mechanic because things didn't work out between the two of you.”

“I _know_ that.” Ed closed his eyes and blew out a breath. “Sorry, Al. I know, and I will, okay? Just...after we find out what happened with Mustang in Central.”

Al nodded, and he noticed Breda and Ross share a smile before Ed glared at them both for eavesdropping.

The room was quiet other than that. Apparently there had been more going on than Ed had mentioned to him to have everyone this concerned.

Fuery was sitting at his desk, idly playing with a radio switch while he jiggled his knee; Maria was watching him while biting a nail; Breda had been staring off into space since Al's conversation with Ed; and Hawkeye and Miles were stoic except for the concerned looks they kept sharing with one another.

By the time Mustang came back out of his office, Ed was rubbing his shoulder again. Al didn't mention it this time, but he saw Mustang looking at him with a frown before he turned to the room, took a breath, and said, “Alright, briefing room.”

* * *

Well, fuck.

This sucked.

Ed sat with his head propped on his left hand, fingers carded through his bangs as he stared at the table. It turned out that he and the rest of Mustang's team had been right about two of the things he found out while in Central, but in fact, neither of those had been the reason he'd been called out there.

Apparently Grumman is going to be stepping down as Fuhrer, and by the sounds of things, he wants Mustang to replace him. Only apparently this is bad news because half the country is leery of such a young leader for Amestris, and there are many who aren't ready for the changes Mustang has in mind.

Namely that rogue group that keeps cropping up. Idly he wondered if they had a name for themselves. He'd called them 'Bradley's Bastards' throughout the meeting, but he kind of doubted that name would stick. For anyone else but him anyway.

Mustang's concern about the Briggs situation with Drachma was infectious. That seemed to be getting pretty serious too. A look at Miles told him everything he needed to know. He knew Briggs, and he was worried. Mouth drawn down into a thin line and crease in his forehead just above the sunglasses he wore to conceal his eyes.

Ed had learned to read him without having to see his eyes. He only seemed to talk when he needed to. Miles was, most assuredly, a Briggs-trained soldier, after all. So Ed had come to rely on the facial expressions he could see, and the little body language he gave off. Everything about him right now said he was worried. And that worried Ed.

“So we're going back to Central?” Hawkeye asked, diverting Ed's attention to her.

Mustang nodded. “I've been reassigned to Central—likely to set up what Grumman has planned.”

“So he's going to just hand over the country right when everything is about to go to shit?” Ed clarified.

Mustang sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I don't like it any more than any of you, but...Grumman's old. He was planning his retirement before even the Promised Day happened. His becoming Fuhrer was only ever temporary. There's just—” He sighed. “No one else to take it. Most of the brass were involved with Father's plot, and we don't know how many of the rest we can trust. There were a lot of Bradley supporters and sympathizers out there.”

“Why not Armstrong then?” Al chimed in. “It's pretty much you or her, right?”

Mustang let out an amused huff of air with a smile. “She doesn't want it. And with all the action happening at Briggs right now, I doubt she'd be willing to leave her men anyway.”

Miles hummed in agreement.

“Grumman ordered me to pull our people out of Ishval. I told him they could likely stand on their own.” Mustang was looking at Miles. “Was that an optimal assumption, Major?”

The crease in his forehead deepened for a moment. He seemed to be thinking it over. At last he said, “I believe so, Sir.” He turned his head slightly and asked, “Where do you want me?”

“That's up to you. I won't order you to stay here. You've already stayed far longer than I've asked of you. You can do whatever you think you need to. You are welcome to come to Central with us though,” he added after a beat. “You have until next week to decide.”

Miles simply nodded.

Hawkeye's outward appearance said that the conversation didn't concern her at all, but Ed had seen her eying the major from the corner of her eye.

* * *

Everything covered and explained, Mustang dismissed his team.

“Fullmetal.” He waited for him to turn. “Stay for a minute.”

Ed shared a glance with Al—already waiting in the doorway, but Al smiled. “I'll wait for you outside, Brother.”

Decision made for him, Ed nodded and walked back over to the conference table. The door snicked quietly shut behind the last of the team filing out, leaving the two of them alone.

He gestured at the chair to his right, as he sat back down. “You can sit, if you want.”

Ed sighed and plopped into the chair Mustang had indicated. “What do you want?”

“That's what I was going to ask you, actually,” he replied, amused.

“What?”

Roy leaned forward. “I need men on my team that I know I can depend on.”

Ed frowned furiously. “Bastard! You know you can depend on me.”

Roy raised his eyebrows. “Do I?” In an instant, he reached toward Ed's right arm. He reacted just as he had suspected he would, jerking his arm away, and then hissing in pain—proving Roy's point without him having to elaborate.

“The fuck was that!?” Ed yelled, left hand to his shoulder.

“You're injured, Edward.”

“I'm fine dammit! Why does everyone keep acting like--”

“I can't depend on someone who can't move his right arm without severe pain,” Roy interrupted before he could finish.

Ed didn't say anything to that.

“Initially, your orders are to go see your mechanic as soon as we're done here,” Ed huffed, but Roy continued over him. “After that,” he shrugged. “It's up to you.”

Ed frowned. “What do you mean?”

Roy smiled. Intelligent as Ed was, sometimes he missed the simplest things. “Your brother is back. I won't force you to stay on with the military working for me. You're free to leave if you want.”

Ed's automail shook as he made a fist with it, anger boiling over. “Bastard. I can't leave. Not yet,” he ground out. Then his demeanor shifted and he relaxed his fist, looking at Roy honestly. In a voice so low he was almost whispering, he said, “He wants to join up, you know.”

Roy nodded. “And you don't want him to.”

Ed scowled. “Of course not! You know I don't. After everything we went through, he deserves better than what the military would do to him!”

“And you don't?” To be honest, Roy thought that both Elrics deserved to live the rest of their lives in peace. They'd been through enough hell for Roy to continue dragging them through his.

“I—I'm different.” He deflated, looking away for a moment. “Look, it's—it's Al, and if anything ever happened to him--”

“You can't protect him forever, you know.”

Ed huffed at the table. “Yeah, he was telling me the same thing this morning, too.”

“The military's changing. And it's going to change even more once I'm in charge. I won't let him get sent on any dangerous missions. If he does decide to join up.”

Ed looked up from the table, corners of his mouth turned up just a bit in appreciation. “I know. So, you want me to come back to Central after I go to Rush Valley?”

“I could sure use you there, if you're going to stay.”

Ed popped off a little mock salute with his left hand, genuinely smiling now.

“Right. Good then.” Roy smiled back. “Dismissed, Fullmetal.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *points at rating* Yeah, that’s gone up. *grin* Uh...there might be some porns in this chapter. Just a note. ^_~ I had originally sectioned this off as a much larger chapter (I didn’t chapter it off as I was writing), but it was brought to my attention that it might work better broken in two...and I kinda liked it that way once I thought about it. Also, I’ve gotten a couple questions as to whether Ed has alchemy or not. This chapter answers that question. ^_~
> 
> Thank you for all your lovely comments! I’m happy to see some interest! (Nothing like a NaNoWriMo story to kill the confidence. XD) Anyway, I’m sure y’all have had enough of my rambling. Enjoy!

Roy stared unseeingly at the mountain of paperwork on his desk. They were all important documents and orders that needed to be read and signed off on before next week, but his mind had wandered back to the team debriefing. Namely two certain brothers at said debriefing.

Alphonse was back. Al, who'd gone to Xing to learn more about alchemy and alkahestry. Who'd saved his brother, just after saving the country and being restored to his own body. Who had his whole life ahead of him.

Days ago—before all the chaos of information and summons to Central—Al had shown up in his office looking for his brother. But that hadn't been all they had spoken about.

Al had asked him about doing the very thing he hoped that he'd never hear from the younger Elric. He'd asked about the requirements to take the state alchemist exam and if they were still the same as they had been when Ed took it. He wanted to join the military. The very thing his brother hated.

Barring the conversation they'd had after the team meeting, Roy had always known Ed's opinion of the military, and his opinions about Al's involvement. (Far, _far_ away from the military.) The elder Elric had only ever signed on to become a State Alchemist—on Roy's very own convincing recommendation—to have the funding and access to research materials and documents he'd need to get their bodies back.

Sometimes—before the Promised Day—Roy had wondered if he should have just left it alone and never mentioned the State Alchemist program, for all the trouble and hurt it was causing the brothers. Especially when they'd gotten mixed up in the homunculi's plot. But now, with Alphonse back in his own body, completely whole, he knew that, to Ed—to both of the brothers, it had been worth everything they had to go through.

Noise from the outer office dragged Roy's focus back to the present and to the topmost document on his desk. He quickly skimmed and signed off on the edited requisition form for supplies for Ishval, and pulled the next one from the stack.

This was going to take forever. He'd likely be here late every night until he had to make the move to Central. Probably through the weekend too, at this rate. It didn't help that his trip to Central had already put him two days behind on paperwork. Now everything had to be gone through and edited or thrown out completely.

He got through several more forms before his thoughts had drifted once more.

Roy had been surprised initially when Ed had told him he was going to stay in the military as a State Alchemist (but only on the condition that he was under Roy's own command). He'd almost refused his request. The boys had more than earned their freedom to settle down and live their lives out happily. It hadn't taken him long to puzzle out why Ed had been so adamant about staying.

_Pride._ The homunculus that used Ed's body as a container and forced him to fight against them on and after the Promised Day. Alphonse and the boys' father had lured him away from the battle with Father and incapacitated him—or so he'd heard, since he hadn't been able to see anything at the time—before returning to the fight and helping them to finish off Father.

Roy still hated how long they'd had to keep Ed—well, _Pride_ really, but...it was still _Ed_ —confined. He'd tried to help with figuring out a way to get the homunculus out of Ed without killing him, but in the end, Roy's obligation to Ishval had pulled him away. It had been the combined efforts of Izumi Curtis and Al that had gotten rid of the prideful homunculus and freed Ed. He'd heard rumor later on that the Xingese prince had helped lead them to a solution.

Ed's drive to stay in the military was fueled by his guilt. He felt he deserved to have to stay under the control of the very military he hated. He was also loyal to his brother though, and Roy wasn't about to take him away from Al when his brother had finally been restored.

He'd given Ed leave time—for what he hoped would be an indefinite amount of time where he came to his senses and realized that Pride wasn't his fault and that he didn't have to punish himself with the military to pay back some debt. But, after two years, when Roy had settled into the thought that Ed had indeed done what he had hoped, Ed had found Roy in Ishval, asking for an assignment.

When he questioned him, Ed had simply explained that Al had gone to Xing to learn their form of alchemy, and that 'someone had to make sure Roy fulfilled his promises'.

Roy smiled at the memory as he grabbed another file to read through. If Fuhrer Grumman had anything to do with it, Roy'd be fulfilling his promise sooner than he had expected. It was a rather sobering thought, even if it was his ultimate goal. He'd figured that he'd be closer to forty by the time Grumman was ready to step down. And by then, the Promised Day would no longer be as fresh a memory, and he'd have likely had an easier time with the country getting used to the idea of him as Fuhrer.

A light knock on his already open door made him look up. Riza was standing there—with more paperwork for him to go through, of course—an amused look on her face that told Roy she'd been standing there a bit longer than just now.

He suppressed a groan at the sight of more work, set his pen down and rubbed at his temple.

Hawkeye winced sympathetically, before walking to his desk and handing him the new stack. “Everything okay, Sir?”

Roy nodded, thumbing through the stack before setting it beside his current slowly dwindling pile. “Just distracted. You know, with all the work that has to be done, I think I'll be relieved once we finally leave for Central.”

“Until we get there, you mean?” she asked.

He rubbed his thumb in a circle over his temple as he closed his eyes and took a breath. “Until we get there,” he repeated.

She walked over and picked up the documents she'd just handed him off his desk. When he looked at her in question, she told him, “You should take a break. Just finish up those files and call it an early night. You can come in early for a fresh start tomorrow.”

He thought about protesting, but he'd welcome any break he could get right now, and if Riza Hawkeye was giving him permission, well, he wasn't going to pass up that rarity.

* * *

“I don't know why you're fretting so much over this.”

The cool press of the window pane against Ed's forehead was a welcome distraction as he watched the world slide by.

“You guys were fine when I left for Xing.” Al went on. “Did something happen after that?”

Ed rolled his head against the window. “Everything was fine, even after you left. We only stayed in Risembool a couple weeks after that, and then I went to Ishval to get my orders. Winry went to Rush Valley, and that was that.”

Al shook his head. “Then what's the problem?”

Ed sighed, pulling his head away from the window to look at him. “I don't know. We haven't seen each other since.”

“Have you at least called her?”

“I tried, but she wasn't around. Paninya said she'd let her know though.” It was a flimsy excuse and Ed knew it.

Al saw right through it too. Dammit. He was giving him a look that said plain as day ' _You could have called her back._ ' Couldn't get anything past him.

* * *

When Roy had finished his Hawkeye-allotted paperwork for the day, it was raining outside. Thankfully Hawkeye had noticed it before he'd left, and had handed him his hat on his way out. She and Miles were going to stay late and sort through some more files, authorizing what they were able to, before leaving. Ross was still there when he left as well.

He had some amazing people working for him. He really did.

It was still much later than his usual time getting off, but it wasn't outrageously so, like it had been the previous couple days. Raining or no, he was glad of the prospect of a good night's sleep tonight. Thank goodness it wasn't pouring.

He stopped in at Delia's Diner on his way home. He liked the place. The staff there was nice and the food was good.

“Why good evening, Brigadier General!” A girl with blond hair plaited down her back called as he walked in and following him over to his usual table. “We haven't seen ya in a while. Work keeping ya tied up?”

“You could say that. Late nights all this week.” He smiled politely as she handed him his menu.

She made a sympathetic face. “Oh, so ya headed back after supper?”

“Nope.” Now he actually smiled. “I got kicked out of my office tonight.”

The girl snickered under her breath. “Glad to see that Hawkeye's still looking out for you. Good on her.”

Roy didn't reply, rattling off one of his usual orders instead as he passed the unopened menu back. She hastily jotted it down—probably from memory, Roy thought, he'd come in here enough since he'd been back in East City—and headed off to put in the order.

Roy's eye caught on her braid as she walked away, and his thoughts drifted to Fullmetal—hopefully on his way to Rush Valley by now. Her braid wasn't quite as long as Fullmetal's, and her hair color was closer to Hawkeye's than Ed's, but it was similar enough that it redirected his thoughts for the half hour he was there.

He thought back to the conversation he'd had with Ed after the briefing. Ed's apprehension over going to see his mechanic was loud and clear, but Roy still hadn't figured out why. According to Al—he'd asked when Al came back in by himself the next morning—Ed and the Rockbell girl had been fine after they called off their relationship. Nothing had been off between them before Al had left. But things were definitely off now. If Roy had to guess, Fullmetal had avoided her since coming back to the military and now didn't know where things stood between them. Ah well, Al was with him. He'd make Ed go to see her, of that Roy was certain.

He wondered if Al had mentioned his extra visit to the office to his brother yet. He'd come in to pick up forms for the State Alchemist Program. _“Since we'll be heading back to Central soon anyway, I could just fill these out and study up while were down South, then just take the exam when we get back.”_ Roy doubted he'd have to study much at all, but he gave him the forms, remembering his promise to his brother.

Much as he hated to admit it, having both Elrics working for him would be a great help. They were a force to be reckoned with on their own if you ever got on one (or both) of their bad sides. Having two alchemy prodigies on his team would be a huge advantage, especially with what was coming for them on the horizon.

The steak he'd ordered was as delicious as it was the last time he'd had it—though he barely remembered eating it. He decided to pass on the waitress's offering of dessert and waited while she got him his check.

Thankfully, the rain had died down to a sprinkle when he'd left.

* * *

Ed always hated trips from the East to the South. Or anywhere that was not going to or from Central and another part of the country. All trains went through Central, which made trips twice as long, but what could you do?

Thankfully, Ed was skilled at sleeping on trains. Al wasn't so good at it. Something about the movement and it being semi-public. Ed didn't care though, which was why he was sprawled out over the seat, eyes closed as he let the sounds of the train rolling on the tracks wash over him. The rhythmic beat of the wheels on the track were hypnotizing in a way had already nearly lulled him to unconsciousness.

The noise of his thoughts—mostly about seeing Winry—was dying down, and before long his thoughts had turned to dreams.

_Warm hands trailed down his sides, pulling a growl from his throat as he squirmed under the touch. He rolled, sheet sliding off of his frame as he planted his hands on strong shoulders and pinned him for a kiss. It was demanding and rough and oh damn, Roy was going to have to use those nails on his back more often. He groaned into the kiss, almost feeling the smirk on Roy's face as he did it a second time._

_He pulled back and threw a leg over Roy's, pulling his knee up between his legs to tease his dick. In Ed's distraction of repositioning himself, Roy had leaned up, sliding a hand into Ed's hair—currently loose down his back. He tugged Ed toward him as he groaned and ground hard into Ed's knee, and seconds later had Ed making the same sounds as he attacked his neck with his mouth._

_He shuddered as fingers trailed enticingly down his chest, wrapping annoyingly loosely around him when they found the base of his dick, sliding ever so slowly down to the tip. Ed thrust forward, moving his knee as he did. Roy groaned and tightened his fingers momentarily, but didn't pump._

_Just as Ed was getting ready to buck, Roy pulled away from his neck, and used his other hand to pull him down close enough to take them both in his hand. Ed smirked when he realized what Roy was doing and tossed him the lube off the headboard._

_It took a moment to find their rhythm, but once they did and picked up speed, the friction was glorious. Ed bit down hard on Roy's lip as he came, and moments later he felt Roy pulsing as warmth hit his stomach._

_Ed flopped to the side, half laying on Roy, both breathing hard as they came down._

Ed jolted at a knock on the bedroom door. No, he realized as it knocked a second time, it was a knock on the door of their compartment. The one with Al in it. On the train. To Rush Valley.

Ed winced and quickly reached behind him, pulling his red coat over himself—since he was sporting a fucking hard on—as Al shot him an amused knowing look that turned sympathetic as he got up to open the door.

Fuck. Why did he have to have one of _those_ dreams right now. Fucking Mustang. Fucking brain. It wasn't like they were into each other anyway. There was no fucking way they could ever get along long enough to have a relationship. And yet, it was the second one of those dreams in as many weeks. Fucking wonderful. As if he didn't have enough to think about, Roy had to give him a complex in his dreams.

“It's no problem,” Al was saying. “Really, it's fine.”

He slid the door closed, frowning as he sat back down in the seat opposite Ed. “That was weird.”

Ignoring his own problems for the moment—though making sure to keep his coat over him, Ed sat up, mentally kicking himself for not paying attention to what was going on. “Who was it?”

Al's confusion faded a little, amusement back in his eyes as he watched Ed sit up. The seriousness was back in his voice as he spoke. “I don't know. But that guy... Something was off about him. He seemed really nervous. Looked surprised when he saw you.”

Ed frowned. “He did?”

“Yeah, it was really weird. I've never seen him before.”

Ed glanced back at the door, trying to recall if he'd overheard anything. All that came to mind was the dream. He cursed under his breath. “What did he say?”

Al huffed a little laugh, shaking his head. “Must have been a good dream to have distracted you so thoroughly. Was it _Winry_?” he asked with a little eyebrow jiggle.

“What? No, it—I wasn't--” Ed felt his face redden as Al snickered at him. “Come on, Al, this is serious!”

He laughed, but let it go. “He didn't say much actually. As soon as he saw you he started apologizing and saying he had the wrong compartment.”

“Huh.”

The rest of the train ride had been uneventful. Ed had wandered around the train—after his quick trip to the bathroom to relieve himself of his hard on, but the discrete search had turned up no one he recognized. No one had approached him either. Though, after what Al had told him, he didn't expect them to. Everything about the way Al described him said that he was shaken by his appearance on the train.

Which meant he was likely up to something. Great.

* * *

When the train pulled up to Rush Valley station, Ed wavered about taking the train on down to South City. He and Al had observed the passengers as they got off at every stop after their interesting encounter, but their guy hadn't gotten off at any of them.

“You need to get your arm fixed, Ed. If this is just to avoid seeing Winry--”

Ed's anger nearly boiled over. “That isn't what this is about, and you know it, Al. You heard what Mustang was saying about what Madam Christmas told him. We _have_ to find out where this guy is going.”

Al crossed his arms over his chest as they watched passengers exit the train. “You can't even fight if we have to. Using your alchemy would even be pushing it with your arm like that. You need to go see Winry before we go chasing after suspicious people! Do you not remember how your arm got messed up in the first place?”

Ed sighed and closed his eyes. Opening them slowly, he said, “We can't let him get away, Al. I have a bad feeling about this. Look, we don't have to fight. We can be discrete. I just want to know where he's going. Once we've figured that out, I promise, I'll come straight back to Rush Valley and get my arm fixed before we do anything else.”

Al eyed him for a moment, but defeat was in his eyes. As the last of the passengers exited the train, he moved back to his seat and flopped. “I hope you're wrong about this, Brother.”

Ed turned from the window, smiling grimly. “Me too.”

* * *

It was starting to get dark when they got to the next stop, but they still hadn't seen their guy yet.

“Maybe we just missed him, Brother.”

Ed shook his head. “I don't think so. He may be hiding on the train, but he won't miss his stop. He probably won't be thinking we'll be looking for him to get off.”

They sat as the train started to move again. “You think he'll get off in Dublith?”

Ed shrugged, almost hiding a wince when he did it without thinking about his automail. “I don't know.” Maybe. We've run into questionable people down there before.”

“Devil's Nest,” Al stated. “But that was Greed. You don't think--”

“I don't know, but even the people hanging around there that weren't his chimera clan were pretty weird.” He nodded toward the door to their compartment. “From what you described though, that guy sounds like he'd fit right in.”

Al nodded, looking up as Ed's stomach growled. “It's thirty-five minutes to the next stop, we should go eat.”

Ed couldn't argue with that.

They'd searched—as much as they could without making it obvious—on their way to the diner car, but again came up empty-handed. They'd ended up eating quickly and were back in their booth with fifteen minutes to spare.

Ed was getting twitchier the longer they rode. His shoulder was stiff and sporting a dull ache even when he wasn't moving his arm, and the whole situation just set him on edge. Al was right, he wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight if it came to it. At least he wasn't alone. He probably wouldn't have stayed on the train if he'd been by himself. It would have sucked, and he'd be kicking himself when not checking out the dude came back to bite him in the ass, but with the way his last assignment had gone...even he had to admit it was just too risky alone.

The brakes started their pulsing screech as they neared their teacher's hometown. Soon they were pulling into the station, and Ed and Al were hovering at the window again. There weren't many getting off here.

“Probably going to South City, the jerk.”

“No, look Ed! There he is!” Al jabbed a finger at the window. “Just stepped off.”

“Let's go.”

They scrambled to grab their bags—ready just in case they had needed to move fast, and quickly got off the train. They got out of sight as quickly as they could, eying the station platform for their guy.

“There,” Ed nodded to the corner of a building across the street from the station, keeping his voice pitched so only Al could hear. The guy was far enough away that he wouldn't be able to hear them if they were talking normal, but they didn't know who they could trust here. The guy could have a whole group waiting for him.

As for the guy himself, he was looking around nervously and so on edge Ed wasn't sure how he wasn't jumping at his own shadow by now. He wasn't anyone that Ed readily recognized. Though to be frank, a lot of people had heard of the Fullmetal Alchemist. Especially after the Promised Day's events. He knew a lot less of the people that knew of him.

Ed figured he was waiting for a ride, but after a few minutes, he seemed to spot something (or someone, Ed's mind supplied) and headed off down the alley. Ed caught Al's eye, and they waited until the guy was out of sight to make their way across the street, flattening themselves against the building and watching around the corner.

There was nothing there. Dammit. He had run. Another shared glance and they were off again, hurrying cautiously down the alley, looking ahead and behind them as they went. No one seemed to be after them though—at least not yet anyway.

“Look!” Al hissed under his breath.

The guy was still running. He rounded the end of the block as they came out of the alley. Ed went to take off again, but Al grabbed his shoulder—the good one, thank fuck.

“Wait, Ed.” He had that worried look in his eye. “If he's running like this, he probably knows we're here.”

Ed shook his head, looking from Al to the corner where the guy turned. “He has to be running for a reason though. The innocent don't run away like that. He's up to something, and we have to find out what it is.” He took off again before Al could talk him out of it.

He heard Al grumble in annoyance behind him, but he caught up to him quickly. “Just so you know, Brother, I think this is a very bad plan.”

They followed the guy several blocks through the city, staying just out of sight—just in case he hadn't actually known the brothers were following him. He turned down a street just ahead of them, but when Ed and Al rounded the corner moments later, he was nowhere in sight.

“Fuck, “ Ed cursed under his breath, breathing hard.

Al frowned. “Wait, this looks familiar. Isn't this...” He trailed off and ambled up the street a bit. Then smiled bitterly. “Brother, look.”

“ _Devil's Nest._ ” Ed read off. “What do you know?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now the rest of the scene! :D And some more familiar faces! Enjoy! :D

“Come on, Ed.” Al whispered, tugging lightly on Ed's collar. “We staked him out, we know where he's at. Let's go back to Rush Valley now before we're seen.”

They'd hidden behind a couple trash bins, but they really didn't provide much cover—if it came to them needing it, anyway.

Ed was shaking his head. “We can't. We have to--”

Al sighed explosively. “What are you going to do? You can't just bust in there and ask him to politely come with you! Who knows how many buddies he has in there!”

“I'm not, Al! I—I'm thinking! Just give me a minute!” Ed retorted, desperately trying to think up a plan.

A beat later, the door to the _Devil's Nest opened_ and several people, including their guy—no longer looking nearly as nervous—stepped through. The street was suddenly more populated as well. How hadn't they noticed that before now?

“Fuck,” Ed said.

“Got that plan yet?” Al asked warily.

Ed sighed and squeezed his eyes shut. “Looks like we're going to have to fight.”

“Yeah, looks like. I hate to say I told you so, but—well, no I don't. Just don't get yourself hurt any worse, Brother.”

Ed cocked his eye at Al. “Same goes for you.” He took a breath, and, as the first of the men approached, transmuted his automail, ignoring the spike of pain that shot through him from the movement.

At least of the eight or so guys, none of them seemed to be alchemists. Or none of them were using their alchemy against them anyway. Advantage.

But, to their unfortunate discovery, these guys weren't dumb, they knew how to fight. And they knew how to use weakness to their advantage. Somehow, Ed had ended up with the majority of them on him at once. And yeah, this had been a very bad idea.

Someone grabbed him from behind, twisting his arm behind him in such a way he couldn't think for a moment. He was annoyed at the scream that came from his throat. They'd made use of the distraction though. Before he'd even had a chance to attempt to get free, they had him on his knees, arms still pinned behind him, wind knocked out of him from a well-placed knee to his chest.

“So this is the legendary Fullmetal Alchemist?” a gruff voice called from his right. “Little thing don't seem so tough.”

Ed's anger flared at the comment, but the ground erupting at his—well, knees—cut off anything he would have said in retort. Alchemic hands rose up from the ground, encircling two of the men and causing the rest to panic. Ed took his chance when he felt the grip loosen on his arm, bit down and rammed his right arm back as hard as he could manage. It was weaker than he'd hoped, and it hurt like hell to do it, but his aim hadn't been off, and the guy holding him went down.

Something had changed, he realized as he got to his feet. Al was still fighting with two of the men up the street a little, but the rest—minus the guy on the ground behind him and the two still caught in the alchemic fists—had fled.

But the alchemy had come from the other direction. Ed frowned, turning just as he heard a voice exclaim. “What the _hell_ are you doing to my former students?”

He heard Al's surprised _“Teacher?”_ from across the way just as he was finishing off the thugs he was fighting.

Izumi jogged over to him, hand on his back as she looked him over. “You okay Ed?” He nodded, but her lips thinned as she did her quick inspection, and, when she looked over his shoulder, Ed wasn't surprised when the guy that had been holding him got up and limped off as quickly as he could.

Al joined them—thankfully unscathed, Ed thought to himself—and Izumi looked at them both, positively scary, and said, “What are you two doing here? I thought you were supposed to be in Xing, Al. And Ed, what possessed you to decide to fight all these guys at once with your automail so messed up?”

A bright flash saved them from answering, and the three of them turned as one of the alchemized hands turned to dust and fell away from the man it was holding. He took off in a run as soon as it allowed him.

“Damn, there _was_ an alchemist with them!” Ed grumbled under his breath. His attention turned to the last remaining person from the group, still held in the bonds of Teacher's alchemy. It was the guy from the train, looking downright frightened again as he eyed the three of them.

“Are you an alchemist too?” Teacher asked him.

He shook his head. “Collins was the only one here.”

“Here?” Al hedged. “Are there more of you then?”

The man's face turned grim, like he'd just revealed the biggest secret in the world, but he turned his head and stayed silent.

Izumi turned to Ed. “Who is this guy? What are you going to do with him?”

Ed frowned. He hadn't thought of that.

“We don't know,” Al answered. “He was on the train we were on. Acted really weird when he saw Ed so we decided to check him out. Followed him here.”

“So you two came here—with Ed looking like he's been through a rough fight already, I might add,” she eyed Ed's arm pointedly, “to follow someone who acted weird on a train?”

Ed winced at Al's kicked puppy look, but nodded at her glare.

She sighed. “Idiots. What am I going to do with you?”

Ed frowned, there was something he'd been wondering since she had first questioned them. “How did you know that my arm was messed up beforehand?”

“Because I saw you two trying to sneak stealthily about, on my way back from a delivery.”

“Uh, can we talk about this somewhere else?” Al asked sheepishly, glancing back at the guy now failing horribly at pretending to ignore them. “What are we doing with him, Brother?”

Focus back on him, the guy looked up at Ed, half horror-stricken. “He knows something.” An idea occurred to him, and he smirked, turning toward Izumi. “Hey Teacher?” He tried to ignore the way his voice rose when he spoke. “You couldn't do us a favor could you?”

She gave a put-upon sigh, crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. “What is it then?”

“Well, I really do need to get this fixed,” he waved his left hand at his arm, which, now that he was paying attention, was still in blade form. He clapped it away, moving at little as he could, and continued. “And, well, we need to question him and--”

Her eyes narrowed. “How long?”

“Couple days? At the most?” He hoped. He knew Winry could do major repairs in three days time, but he really hoped it wouldn't take that long. He wasn't really looking forward to rushing her through repairs either. Especially with, well, wherever they stood now.

She eyed them both for a long moment before she spoke. “I guess I can hang onto him that long, but you better hurry back here.”

Ed let out a sigh of relief, smiling. “Thank you Teacher, we owe you one.”

“Yes, you definitely will,” she said, turning to look at their captured man. She nodded at him. “What's your name?”

He glared at her for a long moment, finally finding a little backbone, Ed thought. Too bad he picked the one person that could frighten even Ed himself into silence.

After a, rather short-lived, stare down, the guy answered, “Todd.”

“Good, now we're talking,” Teacher said, over-polite. “Hello Todd. My name is Izumi, but you can call me Mrs. Curtis.”

He simply stared at her.

“Now, I'm not particularly in the mood to fight. If I let you out of this, will you come with me willingly?”

“Why would I go anywhere with you?”

“Well I was planning to at least let you stay at my place.” She shrugged. “But if you'd rather spend a couple nights out here like this...” she waved her hand at the closed fist surrounding him, “well, that can be arranged.” She leaned in close to his ear and Ed heard her whisper, “And I'll make sure your little buddies can't get you out.”

His adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, and it was all Ed took not to smirk at his expense. She had him. It was fun to see Teacher turn her scary on someone else.

Todd deflated, sighing and grumbling, “Fine, I won't fight.”

Izumi positively beamed at him. “Glad to hear it! Now, just hold still.” He flinched when she clapped, and, true to his word, didn't move until she told him to.

One hand on Todd's arm, she turned back to Ed and Al. “You boys should get going. You can make the last train going north if you hurry.”

Ed nodded.

“Teacher, are you--”

“Just hurry up and go, so you can get back here,” Izumi spoke over Al before he could go on. “We'll be fine.”

“Right,” said Ed. “Come on, let’s go, Al.” He grabbed his arm as he turned back toward the train station, now a good few blocks away.

* * *

The evening was spent with scotch while Roy sat on his couch and tried to ignore the world for a few hours. His worries had kept him stressed out since his trip to Central. He just hadn't had time to process it all. They were moving in four days—four—and he hadn't packed up a single thing in his apartment yet. Or his office. Or anything, for that matter. He'd been busy, working overtime since he returned, just trying to get everything done.

He still had Fullmetal, and Al would be joining his team soon if the younger Elric had anything to say about it—which, he did. Miles hadn't told him his decision yet, but from the way Hawkeye's mood had shifted in the past day or so, he was mostly certain he was going to stay with them and go to Central. He'd still have to make trips out to Ishval now and again, but other than the distance, it wasn't far off from what he was doing now anyway.

Breda, Ross, and Fuery all seemed content with the move, even if they were as unnerved as he was about what the future might hold. Hawkeye had given him that obvious little look that said _“I'm still following you, even if it really is hell this time”_ , and his faith in himself and his team had risen a little bit.

He eyed his half-drank glass—clearly this wasn't working. He was still stuck with his thoughts. But it was his second one, and where he should stop if he wanted to make that early start on his work tomorrow. He sighed, not too very surprised when he found he was staring at the chess piece Grumman had given him, sitting inconspicuously on his coffee table.

He also wasn't surprised when, minutes later, he was lost in thought over Fullmetal again. At least those were a different kind of worry.

He finished his scotch. It had loosened him up a little anyway; he felt more relaxed than he had in a while. Also pretty tired. Maybe it had done its job after all.

Hours later he woke to find he'd fallen asleep on his couch. The fire in the grate had died down, leaving the room cast in a dim glow. It was almost tempting to just stay there and go back to sleep for the night, but no. His bed was way more comfortable. Yawning as he stretched, he pulled himself to his feet and wandered off to bed.

* * *

Al was biting his lip. “You think Teacher will be okay?”

“Are you kidding?” Ed said. “You saw her with that guy back there. She can handle him.”

“I know she can, but what if his buddies come back?”

Ed winced. He hadn't thought about that. They were just going to have to hurry in Rush Valley. “She'll be fine,” he said in spite of his thoughts, “stop worrying Al.”

Al nodded, glancing out the window. “At least we were able to make the train.”

Ed nodded. “Winry's going to be surprised with us showing up this late.” Or showing up at all, no matter the time, his mind supplied.

Al looked over at him. It was the first Ed had willingly spoken about Winry without Al bringing her up since they'd left East City. “Actually, Brother, she knows we're coming.” He gave this little innocent smile. “I called her before we left.”

“Oh,” Ed said. “Right.” Of course he had. This was Al, after all. He did things the right way and shit.

It was late in the evening when their train rolled into Rush Valley station. Ed hadn't realized how exhausted he was until he thought of the hotel and _bed_ just up the street they'd be staying in. Just as they neared the hotel though, Al paused and looked at him when Ed slowed.

“You're not going to go see her?”

“It's late,” he offered lamely. “And it's not like she'll be able to do anything to it tonight.”

Al gave him a look. “You know she would, especially if it's urgent—which, despite the fact that you're in pain that you don't want to admit to—it kind of is.”

Ed sighed as the image of a nice shower and bed faded from his mind. Al was right, of course. He eyed the hotel mournfully as they walked past.

This was ridiculous. It was just Winry. They'd been fine in Risembool right afterward. Things should still be fine. ...Right?

“It'll be fine, Brother,” Al spoke up as they walked, unknowingly answering his thoughts.

“Yeah.”

Ed took a breath and released it as they neared Atelier Garfiel's. The lights were still on, but the doors were closed. They were probably putting everything away and cleaning up for tomorrow by now. They were saved the trouble of knocking though. From up the street a familiar voice called, “Yo Ed! Al! Figured we'd be seeing you soon.”

Al smiled. “Paninya! Have you seen Winry?” He jerked his thumb at the shop. “She still in there?”

“Yep.” She kept talking as she approached. “Should be on her way out, actually. We were gonna go grab something to eat.” She looked at them both and raised her eyebrows. “Wanna join?”

Ed winced. Sharing a look with Al, he saw the same regretful look mirrored on his face. Great, they were going to ruin her night. No matter what was going on with them—and maybe it was all in his head anyway—he still cared about Winry. That much would always be true, at least.

“Uh...actually Ed--”

“Can wait until after dinner,” Ed cut across him. Al cocked his head at him in exasperation, but let it go. Ed had to admit, he was getting pretty hungry himself. He imagined Al had to be too. Al looked away. Silent argument: won.

Paninya gave them a look, raising an eyebrow, then shook her head and laughed. “Of course,” she said and looked at Ed. “You _did_ do something to your automail. And I'm guessing you guys are in a hurry too?” She read the guilty looks on their faces and sighed, smiling fondly. “You guys never change. Winry'll be so happy to see you though, even if it's just a short visit. Wait here, I'll go get her!”

She bounded past them and into the shop before they could reply, and it was only a few minutes later that light poured out into the evening darkness again, and Winry emerged, Paninya a step behind her. Her face lit up when she saw them, and her enthusiasm was infectious as she rushed forward to hug them both.

Ed winced when their arms collided awkwardly. Winry paused, frowning at his right arm suspiciously, but then seemed to remember her initial intent and gently hugged him. And he hugged her back. And, hey, it wasn't as awkward as he thought it would be. This was Winry. The girl he and Al had grown up with, so close that they could have been siblings. Which actually made things all the more confusing when he thought of that at the same time during their attempted relationship. But it was familiar and warm and _Winry_.

It was also Winry that squeezed his shoulder experimentally as she let him go. Not expecting it, Ed grunted in discomfort. She let out a tired breath, and said, “I'm gonna need some coffee, aren't I?”

“It can wait til morning,” Ed replied. “You can go eat and get some rest.”

“Brother.” Al's voice held a warning note.

Ed sighed. “Fine. It's probably just as bad as you think it is right now, and we do have to get back as soon as possible, but I don't want--”

Winry was already smiling. “Idiot. I can stay up. I just wish you'd come sooner. At least there aren't as many customers first of the week.”

“You sure?” Al asked.

“Of course,” she said with feeling. “Now,” she nodded at Paninya as she hooked her arm through each of theirs—Ed's left, thankfully—and tugged them forward. “Lets go eat. We've got so much to catch up on...”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one’s up late! Had to help my sister pack and move, and then worked over the weekend and it’s been so hot I haven’t felt up to doing anything. (We just turned the A/C on today.) Probably won’t be another update until at least the week after next or so. I still have to get the next chapter out to my wonderful betas. Thanks for being so patient! I’ll try to get around to replying to comments and reviews to the previous chapter within the next couple of days.

Roy did not make it off to as early a start as he'd planned. He had an important meeting with the Brigadier General he was going to be leaving in command of East City at ten, and he still had to read over everything that was going to be covered at the meeting. He'd planned on being at the office around seven, but it was nearing eight now. 

He hadn't slept well. His night had been plagued with disturbing dreams. In the first he had become Fuhrer, only to find out that their splinter group was being led by Pride—still alive in Fullmetal's body. Once he had gotten back to sleep, a dream of an entirely different nature had taken form. It wasn't exactly a nightmare, but _those_ kinds of dreams about Ed made him feel like a perverted old man. 

He'd been having them with more frequency since Fullmetal had come back to the military. He'd grown into a man while Roy had been in Ishval and it was easy for anyone to see how stunningly attractive he was. His exotic hair and eyes alone were alluring, and he'd come in enough times with his clothes ripped and torn that Roy knew the rest of him was chiseled and perfect underneath.

...He really needed to stop thinking about that. Especially if he wanted to get to work any time soon. He finished buttoning and hooking the hooks on his uniform and headed for the office.

When he got there, Hawkeye was waiting, hot cup of coffee for him in one hand, and the files he needed to look over for his meeting that morning propped in the crook of her arm.

“Late night, Sir?”

He ran a hand through his hair and fought back a yawn. “Long night, Major,” he corrected. “Didn't sleep very well.” He took a drink of his coffee and almost hummed as it went down.

She smiled somberly. “I thought that might be the case. I'm sorry to hear that, Sir.”

More than anyone, Hawkeye knew the kinds of nightmares he had. From Ishval to his own alchemy being used wrongly against people he cared about, and now—what she didn't know, but Ed did—there were dreams of a door in a white void and an eerie smile on an otherwise featureless face. And lately, as proven the night before, even dreams of his future were being twisted and distorted into nightmares. Not to mention all the ones he'd been having of Ed lately.

Those would remain unmentioned too, if he had anything to do with it. Fullmetal had his own life and Roy wasn't even sure he was into men. He'd only ever talked about the Rockbell girl, but Roy hadn't heard anything since their break up. Or whatever had happened with her anyway.

He wondered idly how that was going, and if Al had had to drag Ed to the girl's feet with bribery and guilt. (Probably. Al seemed to be a master at that, and Roy was pretty sure the younger Elric knew it, too.)

“Sir?” Hawkeye was staring at him. She'd said something a couple times now, but he couldn't remember what it was.

Roy shook off his thoughts and downed the rest of his coffee in one go. “Sorry, I'm here.”

She was frowning at him now. “Everything okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, just...long night.” He picked up his empty cup, and tipped it toward her as he stood. “I'm going to go get a refill, and then we'll go through all this.” He gestured at the files on his desk, and when she nodded he made his way to the outer office coffee pot.

Fresh cup in hand, he banished all thoughts from his mind as he sat back at his desk and really got to work.

* * *

The night had been full of surprises, Ed had found out. Once they'd eaten, Ed and Al had gone back to Winry's apartment—that she and Paninya were sharing.

After looking at Ed's arm—and somehow not hitting him over the head with one of her tools for it—she'd fussed at him, but after hearing about why they were in such a hurry, she agreed to pull an all-nighter to work on his automail. She'd offered her bed to Ed and Al, but Ed had refused, letting Al have the bed and taking the couch instead.

When Paninya and Al had crashed, they'd talked a bit—first about the little things that had nothing to do with anything, just...idle chatter, but it had eventually led them into deeper topics. Specifically the ones about them that he had been dreading. But it had turned out he'd worried for nothing. Winry was happy here. She was doing what she loved—automail geek as she was—and she seemed to like the company around this place. Paninya's, in particular. Ed had wondered about them, especially upon finding out they were living together, but he hadn't built up the nerve to ask about it.

He wasn't sure when he'd fallen asleep. He'd been watching Winry from the couch, bent over one of her work tables, working on his arm. His eyes closed for what he thought was a moment, but the next time he'd opened them, Winry was nudging him and it was no longer dark outside.

She hummed, smiling as Ed squinted up at her. “I didn't know if I should wake you up or not, but I've finished the arm, and if you wanted me to take a look at your leg, then...”

“No, it's fine.” Ed shook his head, yawning as he stretched his arm over his head. He sat up, squinting at the clock on the wall across the room. “What time is it?”

Winry winced. “It's almost seven. You've only been asleep for about four hours.”

“Eh,” Ed shrugged. “Four is enough. I've done way more on way less sleep.”

She gave him a look. “I know you have.”

“So you're finished with my arm?” he asked, hoping to derail her thoughts before she started in on him over the Promised Day again.

“Yep! It actually wasn't a hard fix once I found the problem. Somehow you bent a piece inside your shoulder, so that it was pinching the nerve whenever you tried to lift your arm. That must have been awfully painful.” She looked at him with sad eyes. “You don't have to make yourself suffer, you know.”

“I know that, Win. I just,” he looked away from her, running his hand through his bangs. “I came as soon as I was able to.”

She gave him a wry look.

“Alright fine, I probably could have come sooner,” he admitted, then added, a bit lower, “Should have come after I tried to call.”

Winry eyed him for a moment. “I wondered if that was when it had happened.” After a beat, she whispered. “I'm glad that you tried. Calling, I mean.” She smiled, but it was off and her eyes were sad. She sighed and looked away from him. “We can't ever go back to the way we were, can we?”

Her voice was so soft that Ed had barely heard it, but the heartbreak in her voice was too much for him to take. He couldn't be that much of a jerk. He closed his eyes, then reached over and pulled her to his chest. It was a one-armed hug, but he squeezed her as best he could.

“I don't know,” he whispered back honestly.

Her arms slithered around his waist and he thought he heard her sniffle into his hair.

Great, he was making her cry again. Dammit.

“Winry...” He pulled back to look at her, hand moving up to her shoulder. “I'm sorry. I meant what I said. About us. I do want this. For us to continue being friends.”

“Friends?”

“ _Family_ ,” Ed corrected. “But I just... I'm sorry, Win. We said it was nothing, but I just needed time.”

“I know, Ed.” She shrugged, looking off to the side. “...I kind of did too.”

He huffed a laugh. “I guess it wasn't just me, then.”

“Dummy.” She giggled. “It was weird for both of us. I still wish you would call more often though. I know it's not your thing, but it would make me worry less. Al too, but he knows how to pick up a phone every now and again.”

“R-right,” Ed's response was caught up in another yawn, and Winry pulled a guilty face, before it was wiped away by a yawn of her own.

“Anyway.” She smiled and stood up. “We should get your arm back on, so I can check out your leg. Then maybe you can catch a couple more hours of sleep before you have to leave.”

Ed got up and lay down in the floor since it was always easier to reattach his automail when he was on his back. Not that she couldn't do it with him sitting up, but she was going to have to look at his leg anyway.

She came back over with the arm, setting it down at his side as she knelt beside him. “Sorry I don't have anything better for you to lie on. I'd let you use my bed, but...”

Ed shook his head, swatting his hand through the air. “I know. It's fine, just let Al sleep.” He'd never been crazy about having an audience while having his automail worked on anyway.

Her hair tickled his chest as she leaned over him. Sliding his arm into the port, she started connecting wires and tightening up bolts. She got up a time or two to grab a tool off of her desk. Ed stayed quiet while she worked, falling into a sort of relaxed trance. This was routine. Normal. And, weird as things may be between them, this at least was familiar.

“Alright,” Winry looked up from his shoulder as she gripped it in both hands. “You ready?”

Ed nodded, grunting as she connected the nerves.

Winry waited a moment for the pain to recede before releasing him and sitting back on her knees. She put a hand on his back as he sat up and watched as he cycled his shoulder experimentally. “How does it feel?”

Ed cycled his wrist, then bent his elbow, and finally—still half expecting that same piercing pain from before—lifted his arm. It moved as smoothly as it ever had, and when he stretched it above his head along with his left it felt nothing but natural. In fact, it felt better than it had in a while. He sometimes forgot how good Winry's tune-ups were. No matter what had changed about the two of them, Winry's technique with automail was still amazing.

Ed realized belatedly that she was still waiting on an answer. Judging by the smile on her face though, she already knew, but he replied anyway, returning her smile. “It's good.”

“Great! Now,” she said and clapped, “lets have a look at that leg. Pants off!”

Ed stood, wordlessly undoing his pants, tugging them off and settling back down onto the floor in his boxers. Much as he hated to admit it, this too was routine. Even if it felt a bit awkward this time around. Winry had collected up the tools she wouldn't need and carried them back over to the table, grabbing up a few more before returning to Ed's left side this time.

There was a noise in the direction of the bedrooms, and Ed remembered that he and Al weren't the only ones there. As routine as it may be for him to be in his boxers in front of Winry, it was an entirely different story about being half naked in front of someone who wasn't considered family or a potential partner. Neither of which Paninya was at the moment.

Winry seemed to notice his sudden tenseness. “Oh, don't worry,” she said, almost laughing as she looked toward the hallway. “Paninya won't care. Do you know how many guys she's seen in their boxers at the shop?”

Ed huffed a little laugh. “I probably don't want to know.” After a beat, curiosity got the better of him and he said, “Paninya hangs around the shop a lot, huh.”

It wasn't really a question. Paninya had been the one to answer the phone at Garfiel's when he'd called before, and she and Winry had obviously gotten pretty close since Winry had come to Rush Valley.

Winry paused in her examination of his leg to look at him a moment. “Yeah. She still does odd jobs around town, but Garfiel pays her for helping out around the shop when she has some extra time.”

The sound of a door opening stalled their conversation, and moments later, Al ambled out into the living room, hair standing up at odd angles from sleep. He yawned, wiping at his eyes.

Winry giggled at him. “Sleep well?” She pointed toward the first door in the hallway before he could respond. “Bathroom's there, if you want a shower, Al. Or there's coffee in the kitchen, but you'll have to make some more. I just took the last cup about an hour ago.”

He nodded and wandered into the kitchen. “I guess I'll get another pot on before I shower then.” He glanced back into the living room. “Morning, Brother. Did either of you sleep at all?”

Winry smiled and shook her head. “I didn't, but Ed got a few hours of sleep while I worked on his arm.”

“Morning,” Ed replied, lifting his right hand to wave at him.

“Hey, it's fixed! Nice job Win!”

She smiled tiredly and set back to work on Ed's leg while Al ambled around the kitchen. After a few more minutes of banging around, he walked back through.

“There's spare towels in the closet there,” Winry told him.

“Thanks!” Al called back, before heading off down the hall.

“Well, it doesn't look like your leg needs much work,” she said as they heard the bathroom door snick shut. “I'll take it off for a good cleaning, but other than that it looks good!”

He frowned, sitting up on his elbows to look down at his feet. “I thought I'd grown a bit.”

She moved down to his feet, holding them together and gauging their length. “Mm, maybe a half inch or so. That wouldn't be too hard to adjust. I'll do that while I have it off too then.”

She reached up just past his knee joint and disconnected the nerves, then loosened the bolts and pulled it free. Reaching beside her, she grabbed a nearby rag and started wiping down the port. Once satisfied, she picked up the leg and took it over to the table she'd been working at.

Ed sat up and scooted back against the couch, watching as she worked. He hadn't noticed when his eyes had drooped, but the next thing he knew, Al was shaking his shoulder to wake him. His hair was wet, and he was holding a cup of coffee in his hand.

“You should go lay down in Winry's room for a bit. She said it'd be another hour at least before she was done.”

Ed shook his head, yawning grandly. “M'fine Al.”

Al laughed and shook his head, reaching down to help him up. “Come on, Ed. At least go sit in there until she's done. Paninya will be up soon and you're sitting here in the floor in nothing but your boxers.”

Al did have a point there, Ed conceded, letting his younger brother pull him to his feet. He snagged his clothes off the couch as they passed, hopping off into the bedroom. Al waited until he was settled on the side of the bed to leave, shutting the door softly behind him.

Ed grabbed up his shirt—the favored tank top he always wore—and pulled it on over his head, tossing his pants onto the floor beside the bed. So far he'd been able to get away with wearing his old garb in the military, but he had a feeling that the move to Central and Mustang becoming the new Fuhrer would change that. He knew Mustang was stretching the rules for him, and that he would for Al too.

He'd seen the State Alchemist forms Al had brought home the morning before they left. They'd had a row, that Al had mostly won with his way of forcing Ed to see things differently. But Ed was still against it. 

He shifted his hips, grabbing the blankets Al had flipped back when he'd gotten up, and slid his legs underneath. At least he'd be decent if Paninya decided to burst in on him. Which he wasn't really expecting, but actually wouldn't put past her. He wasn't usually very modest, but he figured Winry would appreciate the effort at least. Not to mention it was a little too drafty in the apartment for lounging in boxers.

The smell of coffee hit his senses, and he thought of Roy's office. Roy, who was only ever “Roy” in his dreams. He'd never call Mustang by his first name to his face. Though he had heard him refer to Ed by his for the first time since he'd become _The Fullmetal Alchemist._ Or close to the first anyway. It had been a while. He'd done it once, while Pride still had hold of him, and Ed had heard him, but he was just an observer of the goings on outside of him at the time. Trapped within his own body.

A shiver that had nothing to do with the draft shook through him. He closed his eyes and pulled in a breath. He had a whole new appreciation for Ling and Greed. At least they were tolerable of one another by the end of it. And Greed was nothing like the other homunculi. Ed had to go and get robbed of control of his body by the worst one. And the littlest, no less.

Not that size made much of a difference. He himself had proven time and again that he could fight regardless of size. Or missing limbs, for that matter.

It was surreal to think about how different his life would have been without automail. His left hand trailed down his thigh under the blanket, until his fingers ran over the metal edge of the brace where the port connected to his leg. He had his leg off way less often than the arm, and being without it, even for a little while, made him feel a little, well, naked. He had once mastered the one-legged hop without assistance, but the skill had gotten quite rusty in its disuse. He would never admit to it out loud, but that was the reason he had stayed put on the floor. It wasn't like he couldn't have pulled himself onto the couch if he had wanted, he just...hadn't felt up to the effort. And leaning against the couch was quite comfortable actually. He was grateful Al had helped him to the bedroom though. Realistically he probably wouldn't have gone otherwise.

But he wouldn't tell anyone else that.

Al probably knew anyway—and Winry too, for that matter—which is why he let them help him, only throwing out the occasional gripe about it.

He drifted off before Winry finished cleaning and adjusting his leg, and when she woke him, she pushed a cup of coffee into his hand.

“It's how you like it,” she told him as he scooted into a sitting position, setting the pillows up so he could lean against them.

His eyes shifted toward the bedside table, looking for a clock, but there wasn't one there.

“It's nearly ten-thirty,” she told him. “My clock's on the dresser,” she nodded at it, “so I actually have to get up to shut it off.”

Ed chuckled at that, taking a gulp of the warm coffee and letting the caffeine do its work. “You always did like your sleep.”

“When I could get it,” she said wryly.

Ed winced. “Sorry about that.”

She waved him off, smiling at him before he could go on. “It's you, Ed. We're family. I'll always pull an all-nighter for you. Or three,” she added poking him in the side and shaking her head. “I still don't know how I pulled that off.”

“I am grateful though, for this,” he added, waving at the automail she'd laid on the foot of the bed. “Despite...everything.”

She smiled. “I know. I'm glad you still let me be your mechanic.”

Ed scoffed. “Are you kidding, there's no one better to ask.”

She turned away, but Ed had seen the redness of her cheeks before she did. She walked over and grabbed the leg, moving around to the other side of the bed. Ed pushed the blanket off as she did, minding the spread of tools she had laying out beside him. He winced as he realized he was messing up her bed. He'd make sure he made it up when they were done. It was the least he could do, for all that she was doing for him, after all.

She tinkered a bit with the port, attaching wires and pieces together, and then looked up at him. “Okay, I'm going to connect the wires now.” She smiled sympathetically at him. “Brace yourself.”

Reattachment was always worse with his leg. Maybe because he didn't have it off as often, or so he'd always assumed. But either way, that one he had to prepare himself for. He sat his coffee down on the night stand and took a long breath. Letting it out, he nodded at her. “I'm ready.”

He still tensed, gritting his teeth together and gripping the sheets in his left hand. He did somehow manage not to make a sound as the pain shot through him—which was probably a good thing since Paninya was likely up by now.

Winry made a few more adjustments, checking and tightening bolts here and there, before she sat back and collected her tools.

“That should be better now. I adjusted the length a bit, but you probably won't notice much of a difference. Shouldn't be as stiff anymore either, I cleaned it up pretty good.” She smiled tiredly at him. “Just in case I don't see you for a while.”

“It won't be this long next time,” Ed promised. And it wouldn't. He'd hurt her. First over their break up, and now for avoiding her. He wouldn't hurt her again. Or he'd try not to anyway. Seemed inevitable most times.

“It better not be,” she replied, but she was really smiling now, and that had made it worth it. She gathered up the rest of her tools and headed out, closing the door behind her.

Ed shifted his legs over the edge of the bed, sliding to his feet and walking across the room experimentally. She was right, it did feel better. It wasn't as stiff, and, even if only slight, he could feel the difference in his step. They were even. Now that he'd thought about it, that was probably what had been causing the slight ache in his hip.

He walked back over to the bed, grabbing up his pants off the floor and tugging them on. Then set about making up Winry's bed again. He hadn't seen how she'd had it set up before it was slept in, but he'd done it the way it had always been made up at Granny's. Either way, it was better than the unruly state he and Al had made of it, at any rate.

He grabbed up his coffee, drinking half of what was left of it straight down, before wandering over to the door and heading out into the living room.

“Hey!” Paninya called from the kitchen, entirely too cheery. “Morning sleepyhead. Ya all fixed up?”

“Yep, Winry's amazing.” He nodded at her, now curled up on the arm rest of the couch, next to Al—who was finishing off a plate of pancakes.

Paninya smiled. “That she is. You want some breakfast? I made eggs, bacon, and pancakes for everyone.”

Ed's stomach growled at the mention of food and she laughed at him. “Come get a plate then. I'm almost done with the last of these.”

Ed looked at her as he filled up his plate.

“What?” she asked.

Ed shrugged. “I just never figured you a domestic type. Didn't know you could cook.”

She laughed. “Don't flatter me. Winry's way better than me. All I can do is breakfast. You're on your own if you stick around for lunch.”

He nodded at her in thanks as he gathered up his plate and grabbed his cup—now freshly refilled—and headed back into the living room.

He sat in the big squishy chair, setting his cup on the little coffee table in the middle of the room. Winry watched him tiredly from the couch. Al had scooted to the other end and she was now spread across the other cushions, feet in Al's lap.

“S'it smoother now?” she asked through a yawn. “I re-greased some of the joints.”

Ed swallowed his bite of bacon and nodded. “Feels better than it has in a while.”

She smiled and took a deep breath as she turned onto her side. “Good.”

“You should go to bed,” he told her, nodding his head at the hallway. “It's all made up for you.”

She shook her head, eyes closing even as she objected. “I will after you guys leave. I've already called off for the day, so I'll be able to catch up on sleep. Paninya will be stopping in at Garfiel's later though.”

Al looked up at Paninya, now finished with cooking and bringing her plate over to join them. “Do you work on the automail now too?”

She shook her head. “Nah. I've learned quite a lot from hanging around this place over the years, but I'll never be the kind of mechanical genius this woman is. I just help out around the place. With cleaning or being a crutch for the clients...whatever needs done that doesn't take a mechanical genius,” she said, thumbing a hand in Winry's direction, who was now curled up sleeping quietly.

Paninya shook her head again and laughed softly. “She is hard core.” She took a bite and swallowed. “Just as stubborn as you, too, Edward. I guess I know where she got it from. So,” she asked after another bite of her scrambled eggs, “when are you guys heading back out?”

Al shared a look with Ed. “We need to get back to Dublith as soon as we can.”

Ed nodded, washing his bite of pancake down with coffee, scrunching his nose a bit when the sweetness of the pancakes made his coffee taste bitter. “Well, I was hoping to get a shower,” Paninya nodded at him with a smile and he went on, “And then we'll probably get going.”

“Well, you should stay longer next time, both of you. Sometime when she doesn't have to work the entire time you're around. She misses you guys.”

Al nodded. “We will next time, promise.”

“Don't promise me,” she flailed with her fork—thankfully clear of food at the moment. “She's the one you'll be hurting if you break it. I'm just saying.”

Ed took a quick shower after breakfast. Winry was sitting up, talking softly but animatedly with Al, when he had come back into the living room.

He clapped his hair dry—to Paninya's “Heh, convenient, that.” as she passed through—and sat back down in the chair he'd been sitting in before to braid it.

* * *

The walk to the station was mostly uneventful. Winry and Paninya had come along, but Paninya had headed off toward the shop, saying a quick goodbye before skipping off. They'd tried to get Winry to just stay at the apartment, but she wouldn't have it. She squeezed them both tightly, calling a little “Come back soon, guys!” as they headed toward their train.

She stayed on the platform until the train left, still waving them off when the train turned a slight curve just out of the station and they couldn't see the platform anymore.

The trip from Rush Valley to Dublith wasn't a particularly long one, but Al had pulled out a sheaf of papers from his jacket once they were settled and moving. Ed almost asked what it was, but then he saw the official Amestrian seal on the top page.

“You're really going to do this, huh?” His tone was pitched low and he kept his voice down. He didn't want to start another argument, but it killed him that Al was getting dragged back into this mess. And willingly, even, at that.

Al didn't look up. “I can't just stand by and be a spectator to whatever is about to go down in this country. Especially after the information the Brigadier General gleaned in Central.” He shook his head and looked Ed in the eye, serious now. “You realize how big this is with him becoming Fuhrer now, don't you? How bad it could get, with this uprising of old Bradley supporters stirring up trouble?”

“Of course I do, Al.” Ed scrubbed at his forehead with his hand, exhaling loudly in their little compartment. “I just wish you wouldn't get all mixed up in this. It's going to be dangerous. Especially with the shit going on with Drachma up North at the same time.”

Al was giving him a wry look. “I _can_ handle myself now, Brother. You don't have to protect me.”

Ed ran a hand through his bangs and looked out the window. “I know. I just--”

“I know.” Al smiled at him and turned back to the papers in his lap.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And chapter 6! Sorry it's taken so long, life has been crazy of late. We're nearing the halfway point in the story! I'm going to try to sit down and go through the last chunk all at once (keyword: try), so I can bombard my betas and get the rest of this up. (And hopefully get back on track with the weekly updates!) Then I can work on the last little bit of it so I can start the next story in this 'verse for this year's NaNo. That's the plan anyway. *nodnod*
> 
> Anyway, enjoy! :)

Well that was three of the important meetings done, Roy thought to himself as he walked back into his office. Only two more to go before he had to leave. The week felt as if it had somehow simultaneously flown and dragged by. With work it had dragged on and the days felt unrealistically long; but when he thought about the move to Central and everything that would be happening after that, it felt as if things were moving entirely too quickly.

Miles stood by the door to his inner office, waiting for him. He nodded at Roy in silent greeting.

“Let me get some coffee, Major, and I'll be right with you. Go on in if you want,” he added over his shoulder as he headed for the coffee pot.

When he'd turned back toward his inner office, the door was open and Miles was seated in front of his desk.

Roy entered and sat behind his desk, setting his cup down and clasping his hands together. “I take it you've made a decision, then, Major?”

“Mm,” he hummed with a slight tip of his head. “I have, Sir.”

“And?” Roy prompted.

“I will go to Central with you and the team. Unless you'd rather have me elsewhere, Sir.”

Roy smiled despite himself. “Good. I'm glad to hear it.”

Miles was ever the soldier—Armstrong's training ran deep—but Roy caught the hint of a smile tipping the corners of his mouth.

When he didn't immediately get up and leave, Roy asked, “Was there something else, Major?”

His face turned serious. “It's about Ishval, Sir.”

“Is this about the military occupation being pulled out?”

“Mm.” He nodded. “Morale is mostly up, but Scar has informed me that there are a few who have tried to go after soldiers as they leave. There are still some that have not forgiven the events of the past.”

Roy nodded. “I was worried something like this might happen. Does Scar have it under control?”

“He said he didn't need me, Sir. I think the majority are just happy to have their own land completely returned to them.”

Roy smiled. “I'm glad to hear it.”

He hesitated. “Even so, Sir. I'd like to go out there as soon as I can, just in case things should get out of hand during the transition.”

Roy nodded. “Mm, it's probably best. You can go as soon as possible, Major. How long do you expect to stay?”

“A week...two at the most. Scar didn't seem to think it was anything to worry about, so I shouldn't have to remain there very long.”

“Alright then,” Roy stood. “I'll see you in Central?”

“Mm.”

Miles stood and saluted, and Roy smiled at him before returning it. “We'll see you then, Major. Dismissed.”

He added the last as an afterthought. The Major had been slowly getting used to the more lax way he ran his office—well, lax compared to Armstrong's way of running things at Briggs. But then, Roy wasn't sure anyone in the military could stand up to _her_ kind of strictness. Hers was the strictest run army in all of Amestris.

Major Miles had lost a little of his stiff, direct following of the rules being under Roy, but compared to the rest of Roy's team—well, maybe Hawkeye could give him a run for his money, but the others would have a hard time convincing anyone that they were Briggs Grade.

Roy had even noticed some of the Briggs traits rubbing off on his old subordinate, still serving up at Briggs now. He'd asked for Falman back after the Promised Day, but Armstrong said she still had need of him, so asked if she could keep him. Roy had half wondered if it wasn't a “you have one of mine, I'll keep one of yours” type deal, but Falman had actually been extremely helpful in detecting and figuring out when and where the Drachman attacks would occur.

“Sir?” Hawkeye knocked before pushing the door open. “Call from Central.”

He could tell by the look in her eye that she didn't think it was going to be a good call.

* * *

The mid afternoon sun was high in the sky when their train pulled into Dublith. Sig was waiting at the train station when Ed and Al got off, and they all piled in the car and headed across town to the place he shared with their Teacher.

“So has he been any trouble?” Ed asked apprehensively once they'd pulled onto the street.

Sig actually laughed at that. A good hearty one too. “Oh, I think Izumi had him in line before she even got him home. He's been nothing but obedient.”

Ed and Al shared a look.

“He's actually seems like a pretty good kid,” he went on. “Sad he's mixed up in all this mess.”

“Has he said anything about what he was doing on the train? Or why he got so nervous when he saw Ed?” Al asked.

Sig shook his head. “I haven't spoken too much with him. You'll have to ask him yourselves.”

Moments later they pulled up in front of the butcher shop. They climbed out, grabbing their things before turning toward the shop.

Sig waved his hand toward the building. “Go on in, Izumi is expecting you.”

They made their way up the walk. Mason was in the shop when they walked in.

He stopped slicing the round of meat he was working on and looked up, beaming at them when he realized who it was. “Hey Ed, Al! Long time no see. Getting into trouble again?”

“When are they not?” Izumi put in from the door at the back of the shop. She looked at Ed with raised eyebrows. “You all fixed up now?”

“Yep.” Ed held up his right arm in answer, then gestured toward the door behind her. “Has he been much trouble?”

She shook her head and turned back through the door. “Come on, he's in here.”

They followed her into the Curtis home. Their guy—Todd wasn't it? Had that really just been yesterday?—was sitting calmly at the kitchen table. No bonds or restraints, just sitting there as if he were a guest in the Curtis residence. His hands clasped nervously on the table when he saw them and he was staring off somewhere in the direction of the sink.

Ed looked toward Izumi. “Has he said anything?”

She shook her head. “Not much about what he was doing anyway. I figured I'd leave the questioning to you two.”

Al nodded. “Thank you for holding him for us, Teacher.”

She waved a hand at them. “It was nothing. He actually seems like a pretty good guy, besides whatever he's gotten himself mixed up in at least.”

Todd winced before finally looking up at the three of them.

“Right,” Al said finally, after they'd let the silence drag on long enough. “Maybe we should start this off on the right foot this time.”

He smiled and strode forward. Ignoring Todd's flinch, he held out his hand. Todd just stared at it as if Al was holding out a snake.

“We haven't been properly introduced. I'm Alphonse Elric.” Leaving his hand out, he looked over at Ed expectantly, with raised eyebrows.

Ed sighed. His brother, ever the optimist. Always believing in the good in people. Sometimes, Ed thought, he was too trusting for his own good. Even if he could take down a half a dozen men by himself.

“You already know who I am,” he said in a flat voice, scowl in place and arms crossed. “Right?”

The kid nodded, but he was frowning at Al. When Al turned back to him, he held his hand out, taking Al's in his own. “Todd. Evans,” he added his last name almost as an afterthought. “You’re...his brother.” His eyes shifted to Ed.

Ed tensed at that, eyes narrowing, but Al spoke before he could say anything.

“Yes,” he said simply, smiling.

“It's just...I-I...” His eyes shifted back to Ed and he seemed to lose whatever was left of his confidence.

Ed decided to take it easy on him. He blinked and softened his stare, uncrossing his arms. Now that he actually looked at the kid, he looked like he was about their age, maybe a little younger. “How old are you?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Eighteen.”

“Eighteen, huh,” Izumi spoke up, nodding to herself. “I figured about as much.”

Ed moved forward and pulled out a chair as Al took a seat as well. “So,” he said as he sat, “why were you so nervous after you saw me on the train yesterday?”

Todd tensed up, a mixture of guilt and panic flashing across his face. He swallowed. “I-I can't.” He took a breath, bolstering his courage, and spoke more firmly. “I can't tell you.”

“Why?” Al asked. “What about seeing Ed scared you?”

Something dawned on him and his gaze shot to Ed. “You mean you weren't on the train because of us?” He knew he'd said too much as soon as he said it. It showed. He looked like he was about to jump up out of the chair and make a break for it.

Izumi shifted subtly in the doorway and he settled back down, though he still looked nervous as hell.

Ed frowned at him. “What were you doing on that train, Todd?”

He squeezed his eyes shut, turning his head away from them. “This wasn't supposed to happen,” they barely heard him whisper. “It wasn't supposed to happen like this.”

“What wasn't?” Al prompted.

Ignoring Al's question, Todd went on with his slightly panicked whispers. “They shouldn't have trusted me. I couldn't do it. I've failed them. And now,” his breath stuttered as he tried to hold himself together. “And now...”

Ed had started to stand, but Izumi stopped him with a hand to his shoulder and a look that said plainly _Shut up and let me handle this._

“Todd.” Her voice was gentle, and when the kid finally looked back at her, Ed was surprised to see a tear trailing down his face. “What was it that you were supposed to do?”

He shook his head frantically. “ _I can't_. They'll already have heard by now.” His eyes widened and his whole body shook in fear. “I'm a coward—a stupid coward. And now they're going to kill me.”

Ed was getting impatient. He took a breath to speak, but Izumi anticipated it and held her hand up behind her. Ed stayed silent.

“Who is going to kill you?”

Todd put his elbows on the table and bowed his head, hands carding through his auburn hair.

“Alright,” Izumi pulled up another chair and sat next to the kid, facing him rather than the table. “What were you supposed to do?”

“I can't tell you,” he let out on a near sob.

Izumi reached out and touched his shoulder, making him jump, before he turned and met her gaze.

“We're not going to hurt you, but we need to know what it was that you were supposed to do on that train.” She went on when he didn't answer. “You said they—the people who sent you on this mission—are going to want to kill you. We can protect you if you tell us what's going on.”

He cast a doubtful look in Ed and Al's direction, and Izumi held Ed's gaze for a long moment. “Even the Fullmetal Alchemist. You have my word,” she added, giving Ed a meaningful look before turning back to Todd. “Now, can you tell us what happened?”

The kid sighed, but started to talk.

* * *

Roy closed his eyes and let out a long breath as he placed the phone back in its cradle. Hawkeye's hunch had been right, the news wasn't good.

“Sir?” she asked from the doorway. She'd never ask him outright what the call had been about, but he knew she was worried, and he wasn't going to keep her waiting.

He jerked his head toward the room, signaling her to come in. “Close the door please.”

She made her way over to his desk, sitting in the chair opposite his. She eyed the king chess piece sitting out on his desk before looking back up at him. “What happened?”

Roy let out another long breath, straightened, and then started to speak. “Fuhrer Grumman announced two days ago that he would be stepping down as Fuhrer and retiring. Yesterday evening, two important train lines blew up en route.”

Hawkeye's eyes were wide. “Bombings?” Her shock faded a bit as she frowned and comprehension took over. “You think they're connected.” It wasn't a question.

Roy looked down and picked up the chess piece in his right hand. “I just don't think it's a coincidence.”

“Did Fuhrer Grumman say who would be replacing him?”

Roy shook his head. “No, but most of the country knows what he thinks of me. The only ones he'd trust handing it over to would be me or Major General Armstrong and she turned it down because of the Drachman attacks. Many of the old Bradley supporters are still upset and confused about the Promised Day's events. There are a lot that believe that Armstrong and I were working in tandem to get rid of Fuhrer Bradley.”

“Well, you kind of were. Sir.”

Roy quirked a smile at her. “But they don't know that. All they were told is that Armstrong and Briggs were trying to stage a coup and that we were trying to stop it and protect the Fuhrer.” He sobered after a moment, setting the piece upright on his desk and placing his pointer finger on the little cross on the top. “The country knows I'm one of Grumman's favorites. It's not that far a stretch to put the rest of it together.”

She nodded, entranced by the piece he was now tipping back and forth unconsciously. “Did they say which lines were bombed?”

“The North and West bound main lines. The Northern one was carrying military supplies, but the one out West was a commuter train. Twenty-eight casualties with several injured in nearby hospitals.”

Hawkeye looked down, frowning, even now trying to put the pieces together. “What would this have to do with Grumman stepping down though?”

He caught her eye. “I don't know. I still have a bad feeling about this.” He tipped the king over with his finger, making a little clink that could have echoed around the room for how ominous it felt. “And that's what worries me.”

* * *

Hours later, Captain Haberly burst into his office, breathing hard. If he'd run here, it couldn't be good. He handed Roy a sheaf of papers as he saluted, giving Roy a moment to skim the first page as he caught his breath.

His stomach clenched as he caught the words _train_ and _East City_ and he looked up and demanded, “What is this Captain? What happened?”

“We apprehended two suspicious men on the inbound train, Sir.” He said in between breaths. “They were in the possession of a bomb.”

“Did it go off? Were you able to stop them beforehand?”

The soldier nodded. “Yes, Sir. We found and deactivated the bomb before it could go off.”

“Good.” Roy sighed deeply. Haberly wavered, switching his weight from foot to foot, hesitating. “What is it, Captain?”

He swallowed. “The timer, Sir. It was set to go off right as the train was to arrive at East City.”

Roy's insides twisted a little more. “These men, you said you apprehended them. Where are they being held?”

“East City MP station, Sir.”

“Right. Thank you, Captain. Was there anything else?”

Haberly straightened a little. “No, Sir.”

“Dismissed. Let the MPs know that I'll be paying a visit at fifteen hundred hours.”

The soldier nodded before snapping to a sharp salute. “Sir.”

Roy followed him into his outer office. The Captain hadn't bothered to close Roy's inner office door when he'd burst in, so he knew his whole office had heard their conversation. Once the door had shut behind Haberly, he started handing out orders.

“Breda, I need you to dig up as much information on the train lines and schedules from yesterday and today as possible. Pay particular attention to any suspicious activity surrounding the lines in the South.” He shifted his gaze as Breda stood and headed out of the office. “Fuery--”

“I'm already on it, Sir,” he said turning one of the radio dials as he slid his headset on.

“Hawkeye, reschedule my meeting—for tomorrow morning if at all possible. We may have to leave a little sooner than planned.

“Miles, Ross,” he waited for them to look up. “Can you handle the Ishval meeting without me? I need those reports.”

They both nodded and saluted.

“Alright then, I'm going to go back to my office and read this through. Then Hawkeye you'll be going with me to the MP station. We need to know as much as we can about this. It may be our only chance before we get to Central.” _And things get even more out of hand_ , his mind supplied, but he left that unspoken. “I need that info as soon as possible. I'd like to head over in about twenty to thirty minutes.”

The reports detailed most of what Captain Haberly had told him. The suspects’ names were listed, along with their previous ranks in the military. They'd both been dishonorably discharged for disobeying orders after the Promised Day. Or that's what the official file said anyway. They were likely part of the military that had risen against the change of power and spread their theories painting Fuhrer Grumman, Mustang, and Armstrong in a bad light through the military like a plague. It had really put a dent in the military for a while, but Grumman finally handed down orders that if any soldier didn't comply to the way things were run now and kept resisting, they were to be discharged from the military.

It hadn't set well with a lot of people. And now, it seemed these were the people forming the splinter group and starting these attacks. He would bet money that these men were a part of the group his mother had warned him about.

He hoped he'd be able to glean some more information than these few pages offered by meeting with them in person. Being ex-military though, these guys would likely be tough to crack. He almost wanted to take Miles as well—that guy could be scary when he wanted—but he really did need that report from Ishval, and Miles was the best person for the meeting. Especially if he couldn't be there himself.

He looked at the time. It had only been ten minutes. He let out a long sigh and scrubbed a hand through his hair. He hadn't heard anything from the Elric brothers since Al had come asking for State Alchemist forms before they left. And reports from Central only listed the West and North bound trains bombed. If the East train was thwarted today, what about the South?

He waffled about calling Rush Valley to see about them—before finally convincing himself that they were alright. Probably. That was when Hawkeye came into his office.

“Sir...what about Edward and Alphonse? Winry Rockbell lives in Rush Valley now.”

He scrubbed his brow. Sometimes he wondered if Hawkeye couldn't hear his thoughts from the other room. “I haven't heard anything. Nothing was mentioned about the South.”

“Would you like me to call _Artlier Garfiel_ , Sir?” She had an odd little smirk that said she knew how worried he was. (And probably that he'd just talked himself out of doing that very thing.)

He checked the time again. Only fifteen minutes had passed now. He nodded. “Do it, Major.” He pushed his phone so that she could reach it. “If nothing else, maybe they'll have more information for us.”

He listened as she spoke. “Hello, this is Major Hawkeye. Is Miss Rockbell free? Oh, she is? Okay. Alright. Thank you.” She waited a beat, her eyes moving to Roy's before she spoke again, looking away and smiling. “Hello, this is Major Hawkeye from Brigadier General Mustang's office. Paninya? You wouldn't happen to know if Edward and Alphonse are still there in Rush Valley, would you?” She frowned. “They did, huh. Dublith?” Her eyes shifted back to Roy's and he mirrored her frown. Dublith? They decided to pay their old teacher a visit? His focus was dragged back to the conversation with Hawkeye's next question. “Did they say anything else? No, thank you. Uh-huh. Goodbye.”

“Apparently there was a mishap on their train down to Rush Valley yesterday,” she explained as she put down the receiver. “They ended up taking it on down to Dublith to follow someone they thought was suspicious. Mrs. Curtis was holding their suspect for them while they headed back to Rush Valley to get Edward's arm fixed. Miss Rockbell stayed up through the night to fix it up for them, and they headed back to Dublith this afternoon. That's all she knew, Sir.”

Roy nodded, scrubbing a hand through his hair. “And who was that? ...Paninya?”

“Miss Rockbell's flatmate, and apparently an old friend of the Elrics, Sir.”

“No bombings there?”

Hawkeye shook her head. “She said she hadn't heard of any.”

“Hmm. No bombings, and Fullmetal and Alphonse have a suspicious person in their custody. They may have just unknowingly thwarted another bombing.” He frowned, thinking back. “That happened yesterday?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Huh. So that makes three attempted bombings yesterday, and one today. Why the delay?”

“The delay,” Breda said walking into his office, train schedule in hand, “was because the evening train from Central to East City yesterday was canceled due to a malfunction with the engine.” He laid the schedule out on Roy's desk and pointed at the time that had been marked through and had a note to the side: _Canceled to service engine._ “Apparently,” he continued, “they rescheduled passengers meant to leave on that train to the afternoon one today.”

“So our guys just decided to postpone their little firework show until today.”

Breda half laughed. “Heh, yeah. Too bad there were some officers from Central who'd already heard about yesterday's bombings on that train. Otherwise we might not have been so lucky.”

The three looked at each other a moment, before Roy stood up. “I'll go see if Fuery got anything. Hawkeye, you're with me.” He nodded at her, and then at Breda. “Thank you Breda.”

“You're welcome, Sir.”

Fuery looked up as they exited Roy's office, shaking his head before Roy could even ask. “Couldn't find anything, Sir. Lines are still abnormally quiet on all channels.”

Roy tried not to convey his disappointment. If they could stop this group before they made the move to Central it would be even better. “Thank you for trying, Lieutenant. Keep an ear out.”

“Yes, Sir!” he squeaked, eyes focusing somewhere else as he turned his attention back to his equipment.

“Alright Hawkeye, lets go.”

They turned and headed for the door, Hawkeye a step behind him. He only hoped that the day would get better, but he had a feeling they were already in the calm before the storm. His mother had been right, the waters were getting murkier by the minute.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An update! I didn't intend to take this long to get the second half of this story out, but life happened and then I had nearly a month of being sick and now work is laying claim to my life. But someone left me a wonderful comment that dragged my attention back to this and got me to kick this chapter into shape for posting. I still have issues with this chapter, but I've done all I'm going to do with it, I think.
> 
> The next chapter shouldn't take near as long as this one to get posted, just waiting on a beta for that one, then I can get it edited and posted as well. Hope everyone's still enjoying!

The phone rang six times before someone picked up.

_“Roy Mustang's office.”_

“...Lieutenant Feury? Where's Mustang?”

_“Ed? Sorry, I'm the only one in the office right now. I didn't hear the phone initially because I was listening to the radio.”_

Ed rolled his eyes. Of course he was. “What's going on there? Why are you the only one in the office?”

_“Oh! You haven't heard then! Two outbound trains from Central were bombed yesterday, and a couple of men were arrested this afternoon after an attempted bombing on a train to East City.”_

Ed's eyes widened. “There were more?”

_“A cargo train carrying military supplies going North and a passenger train going out West were the ones hit yesterday, and today's attempt was a passenger train as well. The Brigadier General is down at the station questioning the men in custody.”_

Ed swallowed as his insides twisted. Todd hadn't told them his wasn't the only train that was supposed to be bombed. This went way deeper than they thought.

“Fuery, when Mustang gets back will you have him call me? We have some information that might help.”

_“You have one of them too.”_

Ed frowned. “Wh—wait, how did you know?”

_“Major Hawkeye called your friend in Rush Valley. Were you able to learn anything from him?”_

“Apparently not as much as we thought we had,” Ed replied, eyes shifting to the other room where Al still sat talking with Todd. “Listen, just have him call when he gets back to the office, alright? We'll be staying here in Dublith tonight.”

_“I'll let him know. You take care of yourself, Ed.”_

“Yeah, you too. Thanks Fuery.”

He exhaled as he hung up, dragging a hand through his bangs.

“So things are worse than you thought, huh?”

Ed barely managed to cover his surprise. He hadn't noticed Teacher in the room with him until now. He turned, wry smile on his features as he huffed a sarcastic laugh.

“You heard then.”

She was leaning casually against the door frame, rolling a strand of hair between her thumb and forefinger. She threw a glance over her shoulder before looking back at Ed. “That Todd didn't tell us everything?” She shrugged. “I figured as much.”

Ed's face hardened as he watched Al reach over and pat the teen on the shoulder. He couldn't hear what Todd said, but the look of utter consternation on his face was all too clear. “Yeah, well I'm sure he knew about the rest of the attacks set to take place yesterday.” He was still soaking up that bit of information himself.

Izumi dropped the dread as her eyes widened. “So that's what it was. Did any of them succeed?”

Ed nodded silently. “Cargo train going North and a passenger train out West.”

The burning urge to go out there and shake some more answers out of Todd was overwhelming, and before he thought about it, he was moving. Izumi's hand flew out just as he reached the doorway and he stopped and looked at her.

“Teacher--”

“He's just a kid, Ed.”

He winced at the intensity of her gaze, but stayed put, waiting for her to go on. He knew that look and he knew that it wouldn't be wise to challenge it. Even if he so wanted to point out that their age difference was only a couple years, and that, by Amestris's standards, he was an adult.

She relaxed her arm, letting it fall to her side. “What's important is that he was supposed to blow up the train and decided not to. He didn't do it and he _could have._ ”

Ed opened his mouth to speak, but she went on before he could start.

“It's our choices, Ed, that make us who we are. Some of them are bad,” she eyed his arm meaningfully, while she covered her midriff with her hand, “but the important thing is that we learn from our mistakes.”

His shoulders slumped a bit as he conceded her point. “So, what you're saying is that I should go easy on him because he didn't do what he was supposed to do.”

Izumi crossed her arms and shrugged, looking back into the living room where the two still sat. “He seems to idolize you.”

Ed spluttered, but kept his voice down. “What? _Idolize_ —he avoided us like the fucking plague a couple days ago, and then ran to his buddies to help him! Where do you get that he idolizes me, Teacher?”

She raised her eyebrows at him, took a deep breath and said, “Idiot.” Then turned and walked back into the other room without another word.

Ed blinked. That was a bit mild of a reaction. Too mild for all that she seemed frustrated with him. She didn't even so much as swat at him. “Teacher!” He started, but she simply looked over her shoulder at him as she made her way over to the sofa to sit beside Todd.

“Just think about what I said, Ed,” she told him, inadvertently grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. But that was all she said on the subject before turning to Todd and saying something to him that made him chuckle nervously.

* * *

Almost exactly two hours later, the phone rang. Sig ambled over and picked it up. A beat later he was turning to Ed and Al and holding the phone out.

“It's the Brigadier General.”

Al shared a look with Ed as he stood, and Todd, mostly relaxed a moment before, had visibly tensed as he watched Ed take the phone. Ed dropped his gaze away from him as his inner focus shifted to the man on the other end of the line. 

“Hello R--” he barely caught himself, face reddening as he fumbled around for something else to say. But it was too late. The short pause on the other end of the line would have been enough to tell him that the bastard had heard what he'd been about to say, but of course, it was colonel bastard, colonel shit—even if he was promoted now, he was still the same Mustang—and he couldn't let it go unnoticed.

 _“I'm surprised Fullmetal.”_ His voice was dripping with amusement. Oh yeah, he must just love this. _“But you know, that's still not the proper way to address a commanding officer.”_

“Shut up, bastard! I was just--” Just what? Just thinking about you since I called earlier? About those things you do to me in dreams that will never ever be mentioned out loud to any one, let alone the bastard himself?

Roy's soft laugh trailed down the line, but he let it go, turning serious rather quickly. _“Fuery tells me that you've questioned your suspect.”_

Ed's eyes moved back to Todd, still watching him and wringing his hands nervously. “Yeah. Apparently things didn't go according to plan. I don't think they were counting on the Fullmetal Alchemist being on the train.”

Todd shrunk a little more into the cushions.

 _“Apparently,”_ Roy replied slowly, as if his thoughts were elsewhere.

“So, how did yours go?” Ed went on, too impatient to find out more about what was going on to analyze Roy's silence. “Fuery said you'd gone to interrogate the suspects from today.”

He could hear Roy's huff of aggravation over the phone. _“They're ex-military,”_ he said, as if that told him everything. Which, actually, it did. Mostly.

“So you didn't get anything out of them?”

_“Not in anything they said anyway. I hadn't recognized the names initially, but I've seen these two before. I remember those men. They were Hakuro's.”_

It sounded like he wasn't only talking to Ed anymore. Hawkeye's voice echoing softly in the background told him he wasn't. He barely caught her question.

 _“You think Hakuro is involved in this, Sir?”_

Ed's forehead creased as he frowned. If Mustang hadn't even updated his people before calling Ed... He must have hoped that they'd found out more than he'd been able to gain, or figured out something he hadn't. Just how deep did this thing go anyway? 

_“I'm not sure, Major.”_ Roy's words dragged Ed from his thoughts. _“Hakuro hasn't been making a lot of noise about the current regime like he was just after the Promised Day. He's been pretty quiet lately.”_

Ed's eyes narrowed. “Sounds kind of suspicious, if you ask me,” he put in.

 _“Mm.”_ Roy hummed. He seemed to refocus after that—whether just remembering he was on the phone or not, Ed wasn't sure, but his next words were solely for him.

_“Do you still have your suspect in custody Fullmetal?”_

He was aware of the whole room, and especially Todd, hanging on his every word as he nodded. (He really should have taken this call in the other room.) “Yeah, he's here.”

_“Good. You think you and your brother can handle transporting him to Central?”_

Ed snorted. “Are you kidding, Mustang? It's only one person, of course we can.”

 _“If you're certain, Fullmetal.”_ There was a pause before he went on. _“I want you both on the train to Central along with your suspect tonight.”_

“Central?” Ed asked. “But what good will that do? Why not East City?”

_“Because we are heading to Central a bit earlier than scheduled. Tonight, as well, if we can manage it.”_

Another thing the office was hearing for the first time along with himself, if Ed had to guess by the noises in the background.

_“We don't know how many more of these attacks are planned, or if any are at all. Less people travel by evening train than during the day, and with awareness up about the bombings, now may be our only chance.”_

And they were all expected to be in Central in a few days anyway. Ed sighed. He wasn't going to get a decent amount of sleep any time in the near future at this rate. But Mustang had a point. Not to mention that Todd's cronies probably weren't too happy finding out he didn't follow through with their plans and would soon be out looking for him. ...If they weren't already. Yeah, it was probably a good idea to get out of there, and soon.

He realized belatedly Mustang was waiting on his reply. “Evening train. Right. We'll be on it tonight, Mustang. With our guy.” Todd's face went white as he spoke—though whether in fear of being taken to the higher-ups, or something else, Ed wasn't sure. He'd have to ask him a few things when he got off the phone.

His focus was split as Roy spoke again, half observing Todd, half on the conversation.

_“Alright. I'll see you in Central. If not tomorrow, then the morning after at the latest. Go to Madam Christmas's, she has some spare rooms available there.”_

“Right, we'll be there.”

Just as he was about to hang up, Roy's words came down the line once more.

_“And Edward? ...Be careful.”_

His voice was quiet, less commanding and more...endearing? No. Roy Mustang—egotistical, self centered bastard that he is—was worried about him. About them—his mind amended. And moreover, and perhaps most importantly...he'd called him Edward. _Again._ Second time in a week.

He realized he was still on the phone belatedly. The telltale click that would have signified the end of the call hadn't come, so he assumed Mustang was still waiting for him to reply.

“Don't get yourself killed, Mustang,” he told him, equally as quiet, and there was no bite in his words as he continued, “It'll be hell finding someone to take your place.”

He could hear the smile in Roy's voice as he replied, _“Make sure you and Alphonse get on that train tonight. The last one would be the safest.”_

“Right, we will,” he replied. “Later then.”

_“See you, Ed.”_

The click came this time and he remembered as he went to place the phone back in the cradle that he was still standing in the living room being quietly observed by four sets of eyes.

He forcibly pushed all thoughts of Mustang from his mind—which was damn hard to do, especially after the way the bastard had said goodbye. Couldn't he have just said 'bye' like any normal person? Sheesh. Well, at least he'd have something to think about on the train tonight. The train that he wouldn't be sleeping on because of having to keep an eye on Todd.

He turned, caught Al's eye, then Izumi's, and announced, “We won't be staying the night. I'm sure you've probably gathered as much already, but we'll be leaving on the last train to Central this evening.”

Izumi nodded and shot a look to her left, nodding at Todd. “And you're taking him too?”

“Mustang wants to talk to him, I think. Plus,” Ed turned his attention from her to Todd, whose eyes hadn't left him since Ed had taken the call. “I'm betting that your friends have figured out by now that the train didn't blow up as planned. If I were you, I wouldn't want to be hanging around here any longer than I had to. I don't figure your buddies will be too happy with you.”

Todd sighed, looking down at his hands. “No.” He swallowed and looked up again, glancing sideways at Al too. “Especially not if they've found John.”

“John,” Al put in, frowning. “The guy you were on the mission with?”

“Yeah, I left him tied up in the rear car after I dismantled the bomb.”

Ed shook his head. For all that this kid was skittish of them, he could sure get things done when he wanted to. He definitely wasn't someone they could overlook, no matter how much he seemed he could be.

Ed strode back across the room, reclaiming the chair he'd abandoned for the phone. He waited until he was seated to look at Todd directly and ask the question that had plagued him throughout his phone call with Mustang. And to talk about what Teacher had talked him out of before. It couldn't wait any longer. This was too important.

“There were three other attempted attacks on Amestrian trains yesterday and today. Two were successful.” He took a breath before he went on, holding his anger in check. Teacher had been right about one thing, this guy could have blown them all to hell and _didn't_ , and that did count for something. “Are there any more bombings planned?”

Todd shook his head, unruly brown hair shifting along the sides of his face as he did. “I...no more were planned when we left. Our mission was to hit the four trains on the same day to disable the military before they could catch on to what was happening. Beyond that...” he trailed off, shrugging. “No one ever said what the contingency plan was if the original plan fell through.”

“So you don't know if or when they'll try again,” Izumi stated, crossing her arms as he shook his head.

Well damn. Ed sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again. “Did they say anything about time of day? Was that important? Mustang figures they wouldn't plan an attack on the evening trains because they don't have as much passengers as the day time trains.”

Todd sat up a little straighter as he thought about it, nodding. “Yeah, they definitely wanted us to hit them during the afternoon rush.”

“So we should be safe tonight then,” Al stated, turning it into a question as he squinted at Todd. “Right?”

He shrugged, shaking his head at the same time. “As far as I know, at least.” His anxiety was back with the mention of traveling to Central. Not as bad as Ed had seen it before, but Todd was jiggling his knee and tensing up again, even as he spoke.

Sig cleared his throat, then, softly, but it was still loud enough to catch everyone's attention. “I don't mean to interrupt, but if you boys are planning to take the last train to Central tonight, it leaves in about an hour.”

“Honey,” Izumi uttered sweetly. “Would you be a dear and call in their tickets for them? We will finish up in here while you do that, and then I'll make up a quick supper for the boys before they go.”

Sig nodded and headed out of the room—presumably to use the other phone.

After he'd gone, Izumi issued threats to all of them, making Todd so nervous and tense he was as taught as a bowstring. By this point, Ed thought, he was probably more afraid by the thought of Teacher's wrath than being questioned by Mustang. But then again, Ed was too. He wondered if Todd even knew who Mustang was. He knew the name if not the person at least, Ed had gathered that much. Though there weren't too many in Amestris who _hadn't_ heard of the Flame Alchemist. Ed had garnered as much if not more popularity, whether he'd wanted it or not, in his time spent in the military; enough to know how just far your reputation can reach.

Well, his reputation had saved several civilians who would have been blown to bits if he hadn’t been recognized by some guy who looked up to him in that little train compartment a couple days ago.

They ate their dinner in silence. Teacher had reheated yesterday's leftovers for them and Ed had dug in with enthusiasm. Al had eaten with less gusto, but he ate fast, all the same. Todd, on the other hand, ate slowly, almost as if it were his last meal. Sig had joined them shortly after they'd started eating, letting them know that they had tickets waiting for them to pick up at the station.

Sig and Izumi gave them a lift to the station, where they all piled out, received a few more well aimed threats from Teacher, and picked up their tickets from the station master's window just before he closed it down for the evening.

They boarded the train quickly, Ed making sure that Todd remained between him and Al as they searched for a compartment to sit in. He let Al take the lead as he followed along behind, and he and Al sat on either side of the door to their compartment once they'd found their seats.

Todd had agreed, on a threat from Izumi, that he wouldn't put up a fight and would do whatever the brothers told him to do. It was the only reason he wasn't bound up for the train ride to Central. He was visibly nervous now. His eyes hadn't stopped darting this way and that until they'd closed the door to their compartment, and then he was still eying the windows (both the interior and exterior ones). Ed wondered if he was worried that his friends might find him on the train, or if he was worried that they might attempt to bomb this one while they were on it. Or if he was just generally freaking over being taken to Central to be dealt with.

Truth be told, he was a valuable asset to have right now. Ed had finally seen what Teacher had in him—that most of Todd's nervousness around him was more out of being near a person he'd come to idolize. It was still hard to fathom anyone making a big deal out of him, even now with all that he'd been through. Ironic how Pride could kill a person's own pride. But Todd had told them everything he thought he could. He'd kept names and their grand plot of things quiet so far, only telling what he was asked directly about. He was cooperating, but it was obvious he was scared shitless about what would happen to him if his people found out how much information he was divulging to them. Ed hoped that Central and the promise of protecting him would loosen his lips some more. Maybe Roy would be better at this interrogation thing than Ed was. He'd never actually been witness to an interrogation by Roy. It'd be interesting to see, at least.

A half hour into the trip, Al stretched, kicking Ed's foot with intent. “You can take a nap if you want. I can keep watch.”

“No, I need to stay awake to help you, just in case anything happens.”

They kept their voices low, but he figured Todd could probably hear them anyway. Tossing a glance in his direction, Ed realized that, yeah, he was listening, but he shook his head and sighed as they looked at him.

“I won't try anything, and I'm not going anywhere,” he told them. “I made a promise to your teacher, and I know you don't know me very well, but I keep my word.”

Ed glanced at Al to see a look of conviction on his face. It fueled him to say what he did next. “You don't always keep your word, Todd. You didn't a couple days ago.”

He sucked in a breath and looked at Ed in surprise and horror. “That was different. Look—believe me or not, you can trust me.”

Ed's skeptical look was interrupted by Al's shoe bumping his foot again. “See? You should rest a bit, Brother. I know you didn't get much sleep at Winry's.”

Ed shook his head, turning away from Todd to address Al. “I'm fine, Al. Really. I can sleep when we get to Central.”

Al gave him a knowing look. “If I hadn't have said anything, you'd probably have already been asleep by now.”

“I wasn't sleeping! I was thinking,” Ed spluttered.

“Whatever you say, Brother,” Al said with a little knowing smirk and a roll of his eyes. But then he looked away and the moment was over, and Ed didn't have the inspiration to retaliate.

Realistically though, he couldn't sleep right now. Not right in front of their prisoner. Not when his dreams lately seem to consist of either nightmares about being taken over and controlled by a homunculus, or nights in bed with Roy. He wasn't too fond of either of those becoming known to Todd. Hell, he wasn't too fond of Al knowing about those. Though he was actually pretty certain that Al didn't know about the dreams about his commanding officer. Yet. But he couldn't hide his nightmares about Pride. Al already knew about those all too well.

Before too long though, the hypnotic movements of the train had his eyes inevitably growing heavy. He made the firm decision, to himself at least, that he wasn't going to sleep, he was just going to close his eyes and think for a while.

His thoughts drifted to Roy almost too easily, but once they were there, Ed decided to ponder on it anyway, rather than fight it. He remembered the way Roy had said his name as he hung up. Softly, almost as if he was handling his name with care. Ed had been tempted to reply with Roy's name, but he couldn't do it. No matter his confusing fucked up feelings, Mustang was still his superior officer, and knowing him, he probably wouldn't let Ed live it down if he did. ...Though with the way he was going, he wouldn't be surprised if it slipped out again the next time he saw him. Which was supposed to be tomorrow morning. Fuck. Just fuck. It'd be hell if he let it slip in front of Roy's men.  
They were supposed to go to Madam Christmas's once they got in to Central. Ed was assuming Roy would be meeting them there when he arrived as well. Roy hadn't exactly told him that part over the phone.

He hadn't been around Madam Christmas much other than meeting her in passing a few times. He hadn't known then that she was Mustang's mother. She was crazy good at gathering information though, which was how their paths had crossed in the past.

This time wouldn't be for information, rather a place to stay and keep their prisoner from Central's eyes until Mustang could question and decide what to do with their suspect. Ed didn't figure he'd go too hard on him—Mustang was a softie at heart anyway. He was strict and knew how to command his men, but when it came to compassion for others, Mustang had a big heart. ...So long as Todd was actually being genuine with them. And as long as he kept being cooperative once they met up with Mustang. Ed had a feeling they’d been able to get as much information as they had out of Todd, because it was him doing the questioning. Al had told him that when he was alone with Todd, he hadn't answered many of his questions at all. He had with Teacher, but then Teacher could be scary when she wanted something.

She'd made sure to tell Ed before they left to keep her informed with what was going on. If Ed didn't know any better, he'd have thought she sounded like she was offering to lend a hand if it were needed. Her feelings toward the military had softened a bit after the Promised Day, and she had only given Ed a tiny bit of grief over deciding to stay with the military after he'd been rid of Pride. He wasn't surprised exactly, at the idea of her offering to help the military—or Roy, at least—but it was pretty forward of her, even after the Promised Day.

Though realistically, she may have only said that because she wants to know what's going on, and that he and Al are doing okay. Oh yeah, and there was that. She'd found out about Al's decision to become a State Alchemist while they were there too. Ed hadn't heard the most of it, but he was pretty sure it was something akin to the talking to he'd gotten when she found out Ed had signed away his life to the military at the age of twelve. She'd taken Al outside and Ed had seen them sparring out of the window as they talked. Or rather, he'd seen Teacher kicking Al's ass while they talked, but such was the way that Teacher got her points across.

Ed mentally sighed. He couldn't stop his brother signing up for the very same thing he did as a kid, but he comforted himself with the thought that at least he would be under Mustang's watch. And that was a good place to be. With Roy's new fuhrership on the horizon and this terrorist group trying to interrupt it, Ed was going to want to keep a close eye on Al anyway. And, though he hated to admit it, it was probably the safest place to be, a state alchemist under Roy's command. Either that or the most dangerous, but he wouldn't have been able to keep Al away with himself all tangled up in this mess anyway. Might as well be officially in the know and able to help out, rather than just doing it anyway, like Al would have done. But still. Ed didn't like it.

The squeal of the brakes on the train pulled him away from his thoughts and he cracked his eyes open a bit to see where they were. Huh. They were in Central. He'd missed the other little stops along the way. Maybe he had dozed after all.

Al was looking at him with a tired smile when he glanced his way. “Have a good nap, Brother?”

“I didn't sleep,” he told him, rather unconvincingly as he did it around a yawn. “Just shut my eyes for a bit.”

“Mm hmm,” he hummed.

Todd was curled up in the seat next to Al, face pressed against the window as he dozed quietly. Well, at least one of them had gotten some sleep.

“How long has he been out?” Ed asked, nodding at Todd and making sure to keep his voice down. They still had about fifteen minutes before they'd have to get off the train, they weren't even to the station yet. May as well let him sleep a little longer.

Al glanced down the seat at their sleeping prisoner. “He dozed off just after you did. Right after the Rush Valley stop, I think.”

Todd stirred as the brakes squalled once more, a bit louder this time as they neared the station, and both Ed and Al watched as he sat up and stretched, casting a worried look their way.

Al smiled a bit to try and calm his nerves. “We made it this far. Just a little farther and we'll be safe.”

He nodded and tried for a smile, but it looked more worrisome than positive. There were probably more of his buddies in Central, if Ed had to guess, and that thought was enough to make even him nervous. Madam Christmas's bar wasn't too far from the station, though. They could make it there without being spotted.

He hoped anyway.

Al stood and stretched, yawning, as the train came to a full stop. He caught Ed's eye as he gathered his things together, nodding toward the door to their compartment, through which they could see several passengers already making their way to the exits.

“Should we wait until most of the crowd is off?”

Ed shook his head. Central was the last stop on the route, so everyone left on the train would be getting off here.

“No. It's easier to stay hidden in a crowd.” He threw a look out of the compartment window. There were only a few in the corridor now. They had started letting people off. He sighed. “Not that there is much of a crowd to get lost in.” He looked over at Todd, and then back at Al. “Probably won't make a difference either way, but I think the chances are higher of anyone paying too close attention to us if there are others around.”

Al nodded and threw the strap of his bag over his shoulder. Todd stood, stretching a bit, though not as grandly as Al had—probably those nerves again, Ed suspected—and the three of them walked out of their compartment and headed for the main exit that would let them out onto the platform. They'd gone the same way they'd boarded, with Ed taking up the rear.

The platform was pretty quiet. Not too many people waiting on others and only a few cabs dotted the curb. They made their way to the nearest one and climbed in. Al rattled off the address as they settled in the back seat, Todd in the middle.

The driver nodded and pulled out onto the street. Ed shot a look at Al, eyebrows raised, but Al shook his head. He hadn't seen anything out of place either. Good.

Ed paid the driver as they pulled up in front of Madam Christmas's bar, and they grabbed their things and hurried up to the door. It opened almost immediately and a girl around their age waved them in. They were inside before the driver had even gone out of sight.

“There you are! Roy said you'd be getting in tonight, but he didn't say when,” the girl said as they walked in, as if she'd known them all their lives. Which, yeah, Ed had seen her when he'd come around Madam Christmas's before, but he couldn't even remember her name. ...If he had ever known it in the first place.

She looked at Al, then Ed, and then stared at Todd in confusion—who happened to be doing the exact same thing. Apparently he hadn't expected anything like this. Although if Ed had been in his shoes, he probably wouldn't have either. She smiled sweetly and shook her head after a moment. “Oh right! Sorry, you must be...” she drifted off, before smiling even brighter and holding out her hand. “I'm Vanessa.”

Todd stared at her hand, then looked at Ed. Ed shrugged and gestured toward Vanessa with his head—if she wanted to introduce herself and shake hands with someone who was a suspected terrorist, more power to her. He gave her a wan smile, taking her hand and shaking it once before letting go.

“What's your name?” she asked when he didn't offer it. “These guys are pretty well known already, and I've seen them around a bit, but I don't know yours.”

“Todd,” he uttered softly. “I'm Todd.”

She smiled again and nodded at him before turning toward Ed and Al. “Nice to meet you Todd, and good to see the both of you again. It's been a while since you've been around Central.”

“Vanessa, let them boys get on in here,” Madam Christmas called from behind the bar before either of the brothers could respond.

“Any trouble along the way?” she asked as they approached the bar, keeping a steady eye on Todd. “Good,” she went on when Al shook his head. “You boys hungry?”

“We ate before we left. Few hours ago now, but we'll be hungry later.” Ed replied.

She nodded, pulling a cigarette from under the bar and lighting it. She took a long drag off of it before nodding to Vanessa, who had followed them over. “I'll have Vanessa show you to your room then—I'm assuming you only wanted one?—and you can come down for food when you want it.”

Ed had nodded when she eyed him with the question. “Thanks Madam,” he told her as she finished. He lingered as Al and Todd moved to follow Vanessa, and Al paused for a moment. “I'll be up in a minute,” he told him, and Al smiled tiredly before turning and following the other two up the stairs.

“Any word on Mustang?” he directed at Madam Christmas.

She took another drag on her cigarette and blew it out. “As far as I know they boarded the last train from East City earlier this evening. That's all I've heard.”

Ed's chest tightened with worry as his eyes darted to the clock. “But it's already...nearly ten o'clock. The East City train should have arrived by now.”

She hummed in agreement. “A lot of times it comes in later than the South City train, but even yours was running a bit late tonight.” Likely catching on to Ed's worry, she went on. “I haven't heard any reports on suspicious activity, and Roy's whole team is on that train. They're too good to let anything slip by them, especially at a time like this when they know to be on the look out.”

Ed watched as she flipped her ashes into the ash tray. “Are they coming here when they get in?”

“Mustang is—or he was planning to anyway. I think a lot of his team have friends or family to stay with for the night. I'm keeping my rooms open for them just in case.”

Ed nodded.

She smiled at him and nodded toward the steps as Vanessa reappeared. “Don't worry kid, I'll let you know as soon as I know anything.”


	8. Chapter 8

There was something to be said for how fast his subordinates could do things when the time counted. In less than a few hours after his call to Ed and his mother, they had gotten every immediate thing that needed to be done completed before they went to Central, and had even managed to squeeze in some extra time to pack up some things from their homes before the train was set to leave.

Roy hated leaving everything like this, but there would be time to relocate their things later. And Hawkeye, amazing woman that she was, had talked a couple lieutenants into packing up the office once they were gone. It would be sent along later. That, at least, would be taken care of.

The train had been late getting to the station—which Roy had been kind of grateful for since a couple of his subordinates had run a few minutes late themselves. (He had only barely made it on time himself.) Late trains, especially the evening trains normally ran about ten minutes late on average anyway, so it wasn't an odd occurrence when it wasn't there on time.

It had ended up being nearly half an hour late. That was a bit more significant to the usual. When he had asked about it, the officers stationed on the train—a new precaution Grumman had ordered—informed him that it was taking longer because they were checking the passengers as they boarded at the stops along the way, inevitably making the train run later than usual.

He sat with his team. He could have taken the officer's car, but they had all agreed that it would be safer if they all stayed together. Especially since this rogue group didn't sound like they were big fans of him right now. There were so few passengers on the evening train that they pretty much had the car to themselves, and had spread out throughout the car.

The security team passed through every so often, making an effort to update him on the situation after each stop. Things were going smoothly so far. No dodgy people, no questionable items or anything that could be turned into or used as a bomb.

He saw Hawkeye stiffen at Miles' side before her hand had dropped to her gun, her eyes trained on the door to the carriage ahead of them. He followed her gaze, but didn't catch whatever it was she had. He had been just about to ask when he heard it.

Gunfire. And close. Just outside the door to their carriage close.

He didn't have to look to know that the rest of his team had picked up on the situation as well. Whether from Hawkeye's reaction or from actually hearing shots fired or the steadily increasing noise of raised voices, he didn't know, but they were all on the alert. When he did look, they were all ready to jump into action, waiting for their orders.

Before he could utter even so much as a 'watch yourselves' or a 'take cover', the door burst open and one of the men from the security team stepped through hurriedly. He was breathing hard and his hand was covering a bleeding wound on his shoulder. He caught Roy's eye immediately, nearly stumbling over his words with the urgency.

“Sir! I don't know how we missed them, but they ambushed us.”

“Sergeant, how many are there?” Roy demanded, but before he had even finished his question, another shot rang out—much louder this time—and the man jerked and slumped to the floor.

There was barely a moment's time to react before the man who had shot the soldier stepped over the threshold. His eyes locked with Roy's for a split second before he took aim and opened fire.

Roy dove behind a seat just as everything exploded into chaos, fingers poised to snap. He had been keeping his gloves on since he'd come back from Central, just as a precaution. He just needed a view of exactly where to direct his alchemy. He could see Miles and Riza crouched behind the seats just across from him, guns in hand, waiting for the chance to safely return fire. Maria too, was in the next section of seats, armed, but her attention was directed in the opposite direction of the gunman. He couldn't see any farther back from his position, but he had heard someone yelp just after the man opened fire. He couldn't see the rest of his men.

Hawkeye was looking at him when he redirected his attention back to the shooter, and Roy hoped she would catch his words without him having to voice them. He mouthed, Get me an opening, and to his relief, she nodded, caught Miles' eye, who had been shifting his attention between them and the shooter, and the two of them laid in return fire.

The man grunted and the shooting ceased momentarily. Roy took advantage of the moment and gripped the side of the seat, pulling himself to the edge to peer around it. And his heart sunk. That wasn't the only gunman. Two more stepped in as their gunman wavered, and Roy barely had time to duck back behind the seat when they started firing on the carriage as well.

But he had gotten a good view of where they were. None of his people were up front. He calculated carefully and snapped his fingers, pulling oxygen from the air and guiding the alchemy to the front of the carriage where the gunmen stood. He held it there for a moment, until the gunfire ceased once more, and then released the alchemy.

He'd calculated right. The three gunmen were down, groaning in pain and cradling their hands. His alchemy hadn't been enough to be deadly, but it would definitely render them incapable of continuing their fight with guns.

Hawkeye and Miles had shot out as soon as the flames had receded and they were assured no one else was coming in to replace their fallen comrades. By the time Roy had moved from his shelter, they had the two that had come to aid their friend on their knees. The other man's gunshot wound was effectively keeping him in place.

One of the other men from the security team hurriedly limped in as Roy strode forward. His eyes widened as he caught sight of his partner—who must have been kicked out of the way by the looks of it—but he snapped to a salute before handing Hawkeye and Miles three sets of handcuffs.

“Sorry, Brigadier General, they blindsided us.” The soldier continued, answering Roy's questions before he could even ask them. “ As far as we know that was all of them. Was anyone hurt?” His eyes trailed to the back of the carriage and Roy's stomach clenched as he remembered. Someone had been hurt.

It was as if the thought registering in his mind triggered his hearing to shift from battle mode back to normal. He could hear Ross talking softly but urgently to someone, and a panted reply. As he moved closer, he saw Ross and Breda bent over Fuery, who was pushing himself into a sitting position with their help. Fuery caught sight of Roy as he did and managed a pained smile.

“I'm alright, Sir. Just got my arm,” he told him, as he cradled his arm in his right hand.

“How far are we from the nearest station?” Ross asked.

“We're just about a half an hour from Central,” Breda replied, and the two shared a look.

“I'll be fine until then. I can make it.”

Breda looked up at Roy then, and nodded past him. “Go, we'll take care of him.”

Roy nodded appreciatively in return and turned back to the front of the carriage as Maria took command of the situation behind him.

“Come on, we need to at least get that wrapped up. Breda, see if you can find a medical aid kit...”

The soldier he'd left was kneeling beside his fallen comrade now, but he looked up as Roy approached. “Is it serious?”

Roy shook his head. “He'll need a hospital soon, but he'll be alright until the next stop.” He gestured at the soldier prone on the floor. “How is he?”

The man turned his head to the side and closed his eyes. “Already gone, Sir,” he answered softly. He recovered after a moment and stood, glancing toward their attackers, now secured in the front seats of the carriage by Miles and Hawkeye. “They should be fine until Central. There are a couple short stops before the main station, but if you'd like, I can go inform the engineer of the situation and get him to skip those and go straight there.”

Roy nodded at him. “Right. Do it, Soldier.”

He followed him to the front, stopping when he had reached their attackers. The soldier continued on, limping out of their carriage. Roy's mind caught on that detail as the soldier disappeared from view, but his injuries must not have been too extensive for him to be walking on it.

His eyes swept across the three men now glaring at him from their seats. As with the other two he'd interrogated just hours before they'd gotten on the train, two of these men looked familiar. One he even knew by name.

“Runfield,” he nearly growled as the man in question stared defiantly up at him. He had been one of the men from New Optain as well, but had been stationed at East City for the past several months.

“Mustang,” the man replied, his name rolling off his tongue in disgust.

“I'm surprised, Runfield. You gave a very convincing testimonial when you were questioned after the new Fuhrer took office.” The man said nothing, so he went on. “I take it you were stationed at East City specifically to keep an eye on me and my men?”

He stayed silent, eyes not moving from Roy's. Roy met his challenge and carried on. “I'll take that as a yes.” He shifted his gaze to the man who had first stepped through and opened fire on them. His leg had bled liberally, but someone had tied a makeshift tourniquet around it. “And you, ex-Lieutenant Davin. I thought you were in Central.”

The smirk he got in return for that comment was sickening, but Roy carried on addressing the third man as if he hadn't seen it.

“I suppose you wouldn't tell me your name if I asked for it?”

To his surprise, the man scoffed and muttered, “We may not have stopped you, Mustang, but they will get you. We won't let you take control of our country.”

Roy raised his eyebrows and played as if he didn't know what he was talking about. Yes, the plan was for him to succeed Grumman as Fuhrer, and soon, but that bit of information hadn't been released yet. Grumman had only announced that he would be retiring, there was no mention of who would take his place. “Who says that I am?” he asked, matter of fact. “Last I checked Grumman is still the Fuhrer and in command of the country.”

“Don't make me laugh!” he spat, hair flying wildly as he spoke. “Everyone heard that announcement of his the other day. And you are his right-hand man.”

Roy shrugged. “That doesn't mean anything. I'm still quite young to be taking the Fuhrer's seat, after all.”

He snorted. “Well _that_ we agree on,” he said sarcastically.

“If it isn't, how do you explain this urgency to get to Central?” Runfield piped up. “It's not wise to be hopping on trains at the first word of train bombings. Unless you needed to be sure you could get to Central while you could.”

There had been an odd glimmer in his eye that had been bugging Roy since he'd approached them. Runfield's last words slammed into him with ringing clarity and he surged forward and jerked the man up by his shirt front.

“You put a bomb on the train. Where is it?”

Runfield merely smirked at him, fueling his anger. Roy turned and slammed him into the wall. “Tell me where it is!”

He laughed, a little breathless, and whispered “You'll never find it, Mustang.” Then he shrugged. “Do whatever you want to me, it won't matter soon anyway...”

“Sir,” Miles interrupted. He cocked his head toward the back of their car as he turned and started walking in that direction, and Roy followed after releasing Runfield and locking eyes with Hawkeye. She had stepped up with a nod and a stern look at the three men.

“What is it, Miles?” Roy asked quietly once they were far enough away.

“I believe they may be bluffing, Sir.”

Roy looked over his shoulder back toward the front. Hawkeye was saying something to them, one hand poised on her gun where they could see. He turned back to Miles, eyebrows raised in question. He hadn't seen anything himself, but then again, he had only been focusing on Runfield.

Miles nodded at the two men still in their seats. “Those two, Sir. When Runfield mentioned the possibility of a bomb on the train, they shared a look. It read all too much like surprise. I don't think a bomb was part of the plan.”

Roy nodded. “But still, we need to be sure. Have much experience with spotting bombs?” he shot at Miles.

“Some, Sir. Major General Armstrong makes sure that everyone at Briggs has those skills at least,” he offered with a little smile.

“Good.”

Roy glanced to the back of the train. The rest of his subordinates had moved from the floor to one of the seats, and Maria was just finishing off wrapping Fuery's arm. She passed something back to Breda, and he put it back in the little medical kit, shut it, and stood. Just as he started toward them, Roy held out his hand.

“Miles, take Breda and secure the train. Make sure there aren't any more gunmen as well, and keep an eye out for anything that could be a bomb.”

He said the last bit mostly for Breda's benefit, since Miles already knew what he'd be looking for. Breda had stiffened in surprise for a moment, but saluted right along with Miles before they went in opposite directions—Miles toward the back to check the cars behind theirs, and Breda toward the front. He stopped, said something to Hawkeye and handed her the medical kit before he carried on through the door.

Ross and Fuery were looking at him as the two left. “Anything we can do, Sir?” Fuery asked.

Ross glared at him for the question. “You’re injured, Fuery.”

He shrugged, failing to hide a wince when the movement pulled on his arm. “I can still walk. And hold a gun, if needed.”

His eye's trailed back up to Roy's, and he looked unsurprised when Roy shook his head.

“I want you right where you are, Fuery.” He shifted his gaze to Maria, gesturing with his head toward Hawkeye at the front. “Ross, I'm sure Hawkeye wouldn't mind some assistance with tending to their wounds.” The burns on their hands would need wrapped for sure, he thought to himself.

She nodded, patted Fuery's good shoulder, gave him a little 'stay put' look, got up and made her way to the front of the train car with Hawkeye. She took the medical kit Breda had given Hawkeye and turned toward the men. Hawkeye squeezed her gun a little tighter when the first man spat at Ross, but Roy strode forward before she had the chance to do anything more than that.

Making sure his gloves were in plain sight, he said, “You can either let Lieutenant Ross tend to your wounds, or you can end up with more.” He wouldn't actually follow through with that threat unless things really got out of hand, but the way the men eyed his gloves told him that it had been convincing enough to make them cooperate.

Maria edged forward again, reaching for the first man's hands. The man looked from Roy's gloves, to Ross, and then back at him, before he grudgingly held out his cuffed hands and looked away from them both.

Breda had been the first to return. His search had turned up nothing, but he had run into that MP officer that had been the other of the security team, and he had informed him that he'd be back to report to Roy on updates as soon as he was finished. Breda's eyes sought out the fallen MP in the corner after he'd finished his report, and he shrugged out of his travel coat, knelt down beside the man, and laid it over him.

Miles had come back before the MP. He popped off a salute as he spoke, and thankfully he hadn't found anything either. “I believe we are safe, Sir,” he added.

Roy nodded. “Thank you for searching, Major.”

He nodded back, a short little motion with his head, and turned to face the gunman, who were now mostly bandaged up by Ross's handiwork. Roy hadn't had to threaten them again, though Runfield had quietly and surprisingly calmly rejected her treatment. They had been mostly quiet since then.

The door slid open once more, admitting the other MP. His eyes darted around the car as he stepped in, taking in the situation and gauging how safe and secure it was before letting his guard down. He was still limping, though it was much less pronounced than it had been initially, Roy noted.

“I have gotten in touch with the military police in Central through the engineer's radio, Sir.”

Roy nodded and waved him to the back of the carriage. No need for the gunmen to overhear anything he might regret later. The MP seemed to understand though and followed him wordlessly.

“We are set to stop at a location about two miles from Central Station. Just to be safe,” he reported as soon as they were out of hearing range. “The military police will have cars there waiting to transfer us. They will do a thorough search of the train there before it goes on to the station tonight.”

“Right, thank you for keeping me updated, Lieutenant.”

He smiled in reply. “No problem, Sir.” His eyes shifted to something behind Roy, and he added, “I informed them of our injured and they agreed to have an ambulance and medical team waiting as well.”

Roy looked over his shoulder and saw Fuery smiling appreciatively at the MP.

He let his team know what they were doing and then was pushed into a seat by Hawkeye and ordered to stay. They could handle this, he'd had too much on his mind already before they'd boarded a train and got shot at. He'd argued at first—he wasn't injured after all, but then Hawkeye had glared and he relented.

He pulled out his pocket watch. They were supposed to have arrived in Central nearly forty-five minutes ago. The engineer must have slowed the speed of the train until he knew if it was safe to proceed into the capitol. In all of the chaos, he couldn't blame them for the precaution. It was safer for a train to blow up in suburbs rather than right in the middle of Central. Well, maybe not safer for the train's passengers, but the civilians would be safer.

His mother was probably already sending out her girls to gather intel about why the train hadn't gotten in yet. The Elrics should be there with their suspect by now. If he remembered correctly, the Eastern train was normally the final train of the evening to arrive in Central.

He figured they had about ten minutes until they got to where the military police were waiting to meet them. And it would be even longer with questioning and reports the MPs needed to get. He'd be lucky to get to Madam Christmas's by midnight. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Yeah, it was going to be a long night...

* * *

Roy saluted as he and his team stepped off the train. He'd been expecting Colonel Douglas, but it was instead a Brigadier General. Must have been a recent promotion too. There were only so many generals left after Bradley's reign had passed, and Roy knew all of them by name. This one was new. Though, then again, he didn't keep up as well with the military police as he did with the rest of the military.

The officer returned the salute with a smile, then held his hand out. “Brigadier General Mustang, it's nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you, but we haven't ever had the chance of working together. Terrance Colter,” he said as Roy took his hand.

“Nice to meet you, Brigadier General Colter.” He looked over his shoulder to where the MPs were leading the three gunmen from the train, glancing back to see Colter was watching them as well. “I'm just sorry we couldn't have met on better circumstances.” 

“Mm,” he hummed in agreement. “Got pretty rough, huh? Two men injured, one dead. Could’ve been worse, though. I'm glad you and your team were there to stop them. With the shape our MP is in, they probably wouldn't have been able to overtake him and the train if it had not been for you and your team.”

Roy chuckled bitterly. “Don't give me too much credit, Brigadier General. We have reason to believe that the shooters may have only been on that train to get rid of me and ensure I didn't make it off again.”

Colter studied him for a moment, but he didn't look surprised at the comment. “Lieutenant Miller informed me that your team searched the train for any bombs.”

“Yes, Sir. We didn't find anything. I don't think these men had any intention of using explosives, though it wouldn't surprise me if they weren't from the same group that was responsible for yesterday's bombings. It was just a convenient threat for them to use once we had them down,” Mustang told him.

He nodded, taking it all in. “Yes, well, I'll still have my men look it over before we let it carry on to the station. Not to step on your toes, of course Brigadier General. Protocol. I'm sure you understand.”

Roy laughed and waved him off. “Indeed I do. I'd be more worried if you didn't double check. Most of my men haven't been trained to spot a bomb. There could well be one and it just got overlooked.”

“Right. I'll let you get your injured man seen to. I'm going to talk to Lieutenant Miller and get his report. Then I'll get Simon taken care of, and get those three down to the station. Are their injuries superficial enough to stay there or will they be needing a hospital visit?”

“One of them was shot, but the other two only have burns. Once they're seen to here,” he waved toward the ambulance and medical team already tending to Lieutenant Miller's leg, “you should be able to take those two on, the third might need a night or two at the hospital.”

“Great. Once you and your men are seen to, head down to the station so I can get an official report of tonight's events.” He waited for Roy to nod, then turned, walking over to the ambulance.

Fuery was there now, sitting patiently while a nurse checked him over. The rest of Roy's team had helped the other MPs with guiding the civilian passengers to a different area to wait for taxis to take them into town. Thankfully their train hadn't been very full, but it was still going to take several carloads to get them all out of there.

* * *

The sudden knock on the door in the middle of the night startled him, though he hadn't been sleeping. Al snorted a little in his sleep and rolled over onto his side. Todd continued on snoring quietly. Ed got up from the little couch he'd been sprawled on and opened the door a crack, squinting into the brightness of the hallway. Madam Christmas was standing there, smoke billowing from the tip of her cigarette.

“Find him?” he asked, pitching his voice low so as not to wake the two unconscious occupants in the room.

“Mm hmm, told you I'd let you know as soon as I heard anything.” She gestured down the hall. “Come on kid, I'll tell you what I know.”

Ed looked worryingly back into the room. He really didn't want to wake Al for babysitting duty, especially since he was sleeping good now, but he wanted to know what was going on more. With it being this late, something had to have happened...

“Oh don't worry about that,” Madam Christmas said, waving her hand at the room. “That boy isn't going to try to escape, and even if he does, it won't be without your knowing. The windows are alchemy enhanced, and if you want, I'll get one of my girls to stand watch outside the door for you until you get back.”

Impressed and convinced, Ed nodded and stepped out into the hallway, closing the door as quietly as he could behind him. “Thanks.”

Madam Christmas stopped a couple doors down and knocked gently on the door. A girl Ed didn't know opened it a moment later—soon enough that she couldn't have been sleeping, and obliged immediately when the Madam asked her to keep watch for him, smiling at Ed as she grabbed something from her room and skipped off down the hall.

They continued on down the corridor in the opposite direction of the stairs, heading for, what Ed figured was the Madam's office.

“So, alchemically enhanced, huh?” he said idly.

Madam Christmas laughed softly. “I figured you would like that.”

“Who did it for you?”

She paused with her hand on the door knob and turned, smiling at him. “Who do you think, kid?” She waited a beat, then continued on when Ed didn't offer up any guesses. “Flame alchemy isn't the only thing Roy Boy can do. It may be what he's known for, but he was an alchemist long before he mastered fire.”

Internally, Ed was proud of Roy. Outwardly, he pretended to be indifferent. He had a feeling Mustang's mother wasn't buying it for a second.

He wondered for a moment if Roy had used his clap alchemy to do it. Ed hadn't seen him use anything other than his usual gloves since that day on the battlefield with Father. But then again, it had taken both him and Al a while before they were able to transmute without a circle, he couldn't really blame Mustang if that was the case. That had been a pretty hectic day for him anyway.

He followed Madam Christmas into the room. As he'd suspected, it was an office, but there was also furniture set up on one side of the room. There was another door through which there was probably a bed and the Madam's personal belongings, and suddenly Ed felt like he had just entered her home. Which realistically, he kind of had. He stood just inside until she waved a hand toward the sofa and chairs.

She brought over a couple cups of coffee, handing him one as he settled down on the sofa. He took a sip and sat it on the coffee table set up in the center of the seating area.

“So what happened?” he asked as she joined him, sitting in one of the chairs. “Was it another attempted bombing?”

"No," she replied. "Though from what I gathered, it was threatened that there was one. Roy Boy's men searched the train, and then it was searched again by the military police when they stopped just outside of Central. There was no bomb found."

Ed listened and nodded accordingly, sipping his coffee while he waited patiently for her to go on. She leaned forward and dabbed her cigarette end out in the ashtray, then reached for another, putting it to her lips and lighting it.

"Apparently there were three gunmen on the train," she went on after taking a drag. "It appears they were there specifically to stop Roy from going to Central."

Ed jolted, eyes wide, sitting up straighter and nearly spilling coffee on himself. "Is he okay? Was anyone hurt?"

"Calm down, kid," she told him. "Fuery was shot, and one of the military police stationed to patrol the train was killed, but other than that, I think the only other injuries were to the gunmen themselves."

They shared a knowing smirk. Those men had to have been pretty bold to try taking on Mustang, and just plumb stupid to try taking him on when he had Hawkeye and his team with him. Three gunmen wouldn't have stood a chance against them. Though, then again, the Madam had told him that Fuery had been injured. He wondered briefly if his injury had been serious, but Madam Christmas hadn't seemed too concerned. Ed hoped that meant that he would be fine.

"The three men are in custody now, being questioned by Roy and the military police down at the station," Madam Christmas went on, pulling Ed from his thoughts. "He called to inform me of the situation and said that he would be coming here as soon as they were finished up there. Which should be any time now," she added, gazing up at the wall behind Ed.

He sat quiet for a moment, finishing off his cup of coffee as he absorbed it all. Roy was alright, and he had made it safely to Central. He would be here soon. The culprits were in custody. No trains had been blown up. His thoughts led him back to Fuery and he voiced his worry.

"Fuery, did Mustang say how bad he was injured?"

They may have been Roy's team, but more and more recently, he had started to feel like he was a part of the group. He was worried about them just as much as he was about Mustang and Hawkeye. Well maybe not as much as Mustang lately, he admitted in the privacy of his own mind, but he was still concerned.

She shook her head. "He didn't say where he was hit, only that he was shot. Sounded like it was superficial, though," she reassured him. She yawned and stretched, rolling her neck on her shoulders, then leaned forward and grabbed her cup from the table, taking a long drink from it. "It's been a long night," she went on after a second yawn. "Next time he wants to stir up trouble when he's planning to stay here, I'm leaving the key under the mat and going to bed."

Ed knew it was an empty threat, but he got her point all the same. If something like this were to actually happen again, Madam Christmas would be up as long as it took for her to get the information she wanted. They both knew it—hell, Roy knew it himself! And was probably already inwardly berating himself for causing her to worry, knowing him. The sap. But if Christmas wasn't going to admit it, Ed wasn't going to bring up.

They only had to wait fifteen minutes, it turned out. Vanessa had come up saying that they were here, and Ed followed Christmas downstairs.

To Ed's surprise, Roy wasn't the only one standing in the bar. Havoc nodded at him in greeting when he saw them, and Ed smiled in return. Ed studied Roy as they neared the two. He looked...well, he mostly just looked exhausted. His brow was creased from worry and Ed had to suppress a smirk when the first thing he said was an apology.

"Nice to see you in one piece, Roy Boy," the Madam said in greeting, her voice rough but relieved.

"Sorry for the late hour, and making you worry, Madam."

She waved them both in, shaking her head at Roy. "I'd say don't do it again, but I know it would be pointless with you."

"Actually Madam," Roy started. He hadn't moved from his spot, and he shared a look with Havoc before going on. "I wanted to ask if you had any more spare rooms for tonight. Hawkeye and Miles are staying in the dorms, and Ross and Fuery are still at the hospital."

Madam Christmas smiled. "I have rooms for whoever needs them. I assume then that Breda is staying with you and Rebecca?" she aimed the question at Havoc, who nodded. "So Ross and Fuery need a place for tonight then?"

"I told them they could come here, since it would be really late when Fuery is released."

"Good," she replied. "Now get over here kid, we've got some talking to do."

He smiled tiredly, and followed the group over to the table.

Ed mostly just watched and listened as they talked. It had been a while since he had seen Havoc. He'd forgotten how much he reminded him of home. It was good to see him again.

Ross and Fuery had wandered in nearly an hour after Mustang and Havoc had arrived. Fuery's arm was in a sling, but he didn't seem to be in too much pain. And suddenly Ed felt a flood of relief. He hadn't realized he'd been that worried, but after seeing half of Roy's team (and the worst of the injuries acquired at that), things just seemed to be a little easier to deal with now.

It wasn't much longer after that that they were all too tired to talk any more that night, and decided to do an "official" debriefing--or as official as it could be with all those assembled and in a bar, once everyone had slept and Roy's other subordinates could be there.

Most of the talk had been all business, so Ed hadn't gotten to talk with Roy during their meeting much at all. On his way back to the room he was sharing with Al and Todd, Roy had joined him on the steps.

"I take it you and Alphonse made it without any problems?" he said.

Ed nodded as he climbed the stairs, attempting and failing to stifle yet another yawn.

Roy studied him momentarily as they neared Ed's door. The girl that had been keeping watch was sitting cross-legged on the floor with a notebook in her lap, leaning against the wall beside the door.

"You should sleep, Fullmetal."

Ed scoffed, eying Roy pointedly when he yawned himself. "Yeah, right back at you, Mustang. Besides," he went on, rather regrettably, "I can't. I've got to keep an eye on the prisoner." He thumbed a hand at the still closed door.

Roy winced as if he'd only just remembered--and he might have only just, with the way his night had gone--but Ed shrugged him off.

"I'll be fine. I can manage, and Al should be up soon anyway," he told him.

"I can keep watch until your brother wakes up," the girl on the floor piped up, smiling apologetically for eavesdropping on them. "I'm a night owl by nature, and I still have this homework to finish up anyway." She shrugged at them both, smiling warmly at Roy. "I don't mind sitting out here for you while I work on it."

Roy smiled in return. "If you are sure." She nodded. "Thank you, Min."

She merely said, "It's good to see you, Roy."

Roy turned back to Ed, gave his shoulder a little pat, and said, "Now Edward, go to bed."

Ed opened his mouth, but swallowed down his words as he remembered the girl—Min, was it?—still sitting on the floor just beside them. She'd turned back to her work, but Ed was NOT going to have this conversation with prying ears and eyes around. He'd confront him about it later.

Instead, he said, "Yeah, you too. Mustang." It had come out a little more disjointed than he'd planned, and he could feel his face reddening as Roy gave him an amused look. "Just go, old man. You are going to fall asleep and break a hip or something if you try to stay up much longer."

Roy chuckled softly, but turned and headed a few doors down the hall, pausing momentarily as he opened the door. "Good night, Ed."

"Night."

He couldn't say it. He couldn't say 'Roy', not yet. It was just too soon. Contrarily, it seemed almost like Roy was baiting him, trying to get him to say his name. The only thing Ed couldn't figure out was… _why_?

Roy had stepped into his room, the door snicking softly behind him, leaving Ed staring thoughtfully at it.

Min shuffled some papers around, laying a couple out in front of her, and Ed mentally shook himself. He probably looked like an idiot standing out here. He reached for the knob, but before he could turn it and escape back into the darkness of the room, Min spoke softly. Quiet enough that Ed had almost missed what she'd said, but her words were enough to make him pause.

“He likes you, you know. Roy.” She looked up at him. “If him saying your name bothers you so much, you should start saying his. See what happens...” she shrugged with a smile. “Couldn't hurt, right?” Then her face turned apologetic and she uttered quickly. “Sorry, I shouldn't pry, it's none of my business.”

Ed found himself caught up at Min's insight. Had it really been that easy to see? Were they that easy to read? That obvious?

“Hey, you okay? I didn't mean... I hope I haven't said the wrong thing.” Min had set her pencil down and was studying him with concern now.

Ed could feel his face growing hot again, and fumbled around for words as he turned the door handle. “Yeah—I mean, no, you didn't say anything wrong. Just, uh, thanks. For being a look out, I mean.”

“Sure.” The corner of her mouth turned up as she replied, though her eyes still glinted with guilt. “G'night.”

“Night.”

Ed scurried into the room, barely remembering to keep quiet as he pushed the door closed. He shut his eyes against the darkness and leaned back against the door, sighing softly.

Fucking Mustang. Been back all of a few hours and already Ed was caught up in a mix of confusing thoughts and emotions surrounding him. The bastard. Ed would bet Roy was just loving this. Probably laughing at him right now as he crawled into bed.

Ed's mind, of course, took that moment to supply him a visual of Roy pulling off his trousers and uniform jacket, followed by his button down shirt, undoing the buttons slowly with tired fingers. Pale skin enticingly warm and inviting as Imagined Roy tugged the covers back and climbed into bed.

He shook his head to clear it, but the image was immediately replaced with a vivid recount of one of the last dreams he'd had about Roy. Ending with him laying across Roy's chest, slick with sweat, their breathing still a bit harried as they came down from their high. It had been so realistic that Ed could remember hearing Roy's heartbeat in the post-coital bliss. Calming slowly as Roy's breaths evened out.

If it hadn't been for the fact that that would _never_ happen, _could_ never happen, Ed might have thought it was an actual memory.

He groaned and shoved the heels of his palms into his eyes. He froze at the sudden sound of rustling as someone moved in their sleep.

“Brother?” came a sleep-filled voice from the direction of the bed.

“Yeah, it's me Al,” Ed answered softly. “Sorry, go back to sleep.”

The covers rustled some more, and Ed's eyes had almost adjusted enough to see Al's eyes peering at him. “Everything okay? Did the Brigadier General's train ever get in?”

“Yeah, he's here, and they're all okay. He's holding a briefing tomorrow once everyone is up. Everything is taken care of for now though, just go back to sleep.”

“Mm, good.” He heard Al yawn and roll back over, calling out a slurred “Nigh’, Brother,” before falling victim to sleep once more.

Ed had thought about telling him about Fuery or summarizing what had happened, but it would have only woke Al up completely, and Ed wasn't really wanting much company right now. He realized belatedly that he should have at least told him he was going to bed and that Min was outside standing watch for them, but Al was already snoring quietly, so he let it go. He didn't figure Todd would be putting up much trouble anyway.

He made his way across the room now that he could see a little better and sank down appreciatively on the sofa he'd taken up refuge on earlier in the evening. He snagged the blanket off the back of the couch and scooted down to the middle, before pulling his feet up, and spreading out on his back. The sofa really was a bit small to be sleeping on, even for him, though he hated to admit it.

His thoughts inevitably swept back to Mustang and what he would say if he could hear said thoughts.

_“You, taller than something? That should be a compliment, Fullmetal.”_

He twitched at the thought, grabbing his blanket and rolling onto his side. He wondered if Roy had furnished this place as well, or if he'd only forwarded the money to his aunt...mother, whatever she was. Maybe he'd ask him about it later. Then he could at least gripe about the short couch if Mustang had helped with it.

Thinking back to Imagined Roy's comment, Ed realized that it probably wasn't very accurate. Old Roy, Colonel Bastard, would have said that in a heartbeat. But this Roy? This new and confusing Roy, who was always 'Roy' now in his dreams, but still Brigadier General Mustang in person? He was a bit of a mystery. He'd probably say something similar, but he wouldn't have called him Fullmetal.

Maybe Min was right. What was the worst that could happen at saying his name rather than his rank—not that he ever used his formal rank when he addressed him anyway, but still, first names were different. He was still his superior officer. That in and of itself was against the rules. Let alone all the other things he wanted to do with Roy...to Roy. And those were _definitely_ against the rules.

Realistically though, Ed thought, Roy probably wouldn't do much more than haggle him about it if he did. He might be berated for doing it in front of his men, but he had been berated in front of them so many times it was practically routine anyway.

It was decided then. The next time Roy baited him by using his name rather than his title, he was going to give in and rise to the occasion. _See what happens... Couldn't hurt, right?_

No, it couldn't hurt to try. It was about time he worked some things out with his feelings about the man anyway. And if Min was right, maybe good things would come out of it after all...

He tried to quash his hope as he dozed off, but he couldn't wipe the stupid grin off of his face at the idle thought of him actually being able to act on his inner desires.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters to go now! I've got some revisions to work on for the next chapter and a hectic week ahead, so I don't know when I'll have it ready for posting, but I'll try to have it up for you guys within the next couple weeks! Thanks for reading! :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gaaaah I did not intend to take this long on getting this chapter up! *does not look at how long it's been* I am so sorry I've sat on it this long. :(
> 
> This chapter had about three pages of a dream scene that just did not work, even though it's quite possibly the best smut I've ever written. *sobs* I'd been trying to rework it in a way that would, when I simultaneously got several bad reviews, one specific one mentioning how unbelievable the only other occurrence of Ed's pervy mind in a sleeping state was. Another just downright ripped Stirring to shreds, along with my confidence. :(
> 
> The combination of those comments gave me a complex with my writing, and I stopped looking at this story altogether. I haven't written/worked on anything in well over six months and I'm finally, finally getting the itch to write again. A recent and lovely review got me to looking back at this story. (Thanks UP2L8! <3)
> 
> I've decided to just cut the dream scene in it's entirety (for a crappy summary paragraph sorryyyyy), because I just couldn't find a way to make the scene work. I still have it, and I still plan to post it somewhere once I find a way to fit it in to this series or add some to it for a oneshot.
> 
> Anyway tl;dr Sorry it's been so long! I hope you'll forgive me! Also apologies for any errors in this chapter. I ran it by my betas aaaages ago, but I've tinkered with it quite a bit since then. Any new errors are my own. Enjoy! :)

Dreaming about one’s commanding officer, and especially one that is Roy Mustang, is both terrifying to think about and slightly (but *only* slightly) erotic. Being jolted awake to a door slamming when you were about to get off in said dream about said commanding officer? VERY NOT COOL.

“What the _fuck_?” Ed said in surprise, his speeding heart and fast breathing only partly because of the sudden intrusion.

His words were almost immediately drowned out with loud voices as an officer he couldn't place but looked vaguely familiar strode into the room. The officer jerked Todd up by his collar about the time that Al got to him and tried to separate them, and Ed jumped to his feet as he threatened Al, painfully aware of the erection that was starting to go away (all too slowly, fuck) as his system flooded with adrenaline while he tried to work out what was going on.

“Colonel Douglas, unhand that man,” Roy's angry voice came from the doorway. He narrowed his eyes when the officer merely stared at him, not letting go. “That is an order.”

The man raised his eyebrows at Roy and said, “The military police force do not answer to you, Brigadier General. Much as you might like them to.” He was staring over Roy's shoulder now, and Maria Ross met his stare head on.

“This man is in the custody of the Elrics at _my_ orders, and he will not be released until I have properly questioned him,” Roy told him.

“Investigation is not your job, Mustang,” Colonel Douglas spat. “You are interfering in military police business.”

Roy stepped into the room, glancing over at Ed momentarily as he stopped just short of Douglas's reach. “The military police will get their chance to interrogate him. _After_ I am though with him,” he told him, strategically displaying his gloved hand where Douglas could see it. It had worked, Douglas's eyes shot from the hand to Roy's face several times before he sighed loudly and roughly shoved Todd away. 

Todd lost his balance as he stumbled backward, and Al barely managed to grab his arm before he tumbled. He still hit the floor, but it wasn't nearly as hard as he would have since Al's quick reflexes had slowed his fall.

“The higher-ups will be hearing about this, Mustang,” Colonel Douglas yelled as he pushed past Ed and Roy and made his way out of the room. Ross and Fuery followed behind him, leaving just the four of them left in the room.

“Are you alright?” Al asked, pulling Todd back to his feet.

He looked positively shaken up, but he nodded, uttering a small, “Yeah...thanks Al,” as he glanced timidly in Roy's direction. Someone must have already talked with him about Todd, or Roy had just picked up on his nervousness—it wasn't like it was that hard to see, after all—but Roy stuck his hands in his pockets as he approached.

“Todd Evans, right?” he asked.

Todd swallowed and nodded, surprisingly not looking away as he replied, “Yes, Sir.”

“And you were the one that didn't blow up the train?” Roy clarified, his tone unchanging.

Todd's eyes widened, and it was a moment before he realized what Roy had said. “I—I couldn't,” he finished awkwardly, looking away.

Roy glanced once more at Ed and smiled, keeping it there as he looked back at Todd. “I know.” He pulled his right hand out of his pocket and held it out. “Brigadier General Roy Mustang.”

Todd hesitated only a moment, staring at the glove as he reached out and shook it.

“I just need to ask you a few questions. Alphonse told me everything you told the Elrics, but I'd like to hear it from you.” He waited for Todd to nod, then caught Al's eye and said, “Alphonse, will you take him downstairs?”

Al glanced from Roy to Ed, and then nodded once and smiled. “Of course, Sir.” He shifted his attention and patted Todd on the shoulder as he moved. “Come on, Todd.”

Roy waited until they were out of the room to turn to Ed. “Sorry about that, Edward. Things got out of hand downstairs, and Colonel Douglas slipped past me while I was distracted by his officers.”

“Eh it's fine,” Ed replied, shrugging and running a hand through his hair. It was still tangled from sleep and he winced as his fingers tugged through a tangle. “How did they find out about him anyway?”

Roy smirked bitterly, looking off out the window. “You were tailed last night after you arrived in Central. They couldn't do anything about it then, but Madam Christmas said they were calling first thing this morning. She managed to hold them off until now, but their patience ran out. As you can see.”

Ed frowned. He hadn't noticed anyone following them the night before. No one even seemed to be looking in their direction. Unless it was... “Wait, the _cab driver_?”

“Central has changed,” Roy said, still staring out the window. “The military have eyes everywhere now, including the military police.”

He turned then, taking a breath and looking Ed over. “By the way, glad to see you've gotten control of yourself, Edward. Interrupt a good dream?” His eyes were shining with amusement, and there was that little smirk that Ed had just been kissing away moments ago in his sleep.

Ed's face heated up as he turned away. “Shut up, Roy. I was fucking sleeping.”

He hadn't even realized what he'd said until silence followed his retort. Well, he’d been planning to try it, but he hadn't meant to just now. This was actually a very bad time to be mentioning his commanding officer’s name out loud. When he turned back, Roy eyebrows were raised, but he had a thoughtful little quirk to his slightly opened jaw.

He gave him a cocky little grin and said, “Well that much was obvious,... _Edward_.”

He was baiting him again! Ed's embarrassment tipped over into anger and he rose to Roy's challenge. “The fuck, Mustang? What is with you? You just remembering my name in your old age or something?”

“Well, I would call you by your last name, but since your brother is here it might get a little confusing.”

“You know what I mean. _Roy_ ,” Ed ground out. “It's _always_ been 'Fullmetal' with you, why the sudden change?”

Roy stared at him for a long moment. He seemed to be thinking it over, like he wasn't sure about telling Ed something. He'd just opened his mouth to reply when a soft knock interrupted them, and they both turned.

“Sorry, Sir,” Hawkeye said from the doorway, and her eyes were apologetic as she glanced at the two of them.

Roy sighed. “Problems with the MPs?”

She made an annoyed face, shooting a look down the hallway. “No, Sir. We got them to leave, with your mother's help, but Douglas didn't sound like he'd be letting this go any time soon. We might end up having to hand him over.”

Ed looked between them. “Todd?”

Roy nodded. “I figured as much, but at least I've bought us some time to try and get some more information out of him. I take it there was something else?” he asked her, eyebrows raised.

“Yes, Sir. Fuhrer Grumman wants to meet with you as soon as possible about the events of last night.”

“Right,” Roy frowned for a moment, and then said, “Alright, I need an hour to question Todd, then I will go meet with Fuhrer Grumman, and _then_ if nothing else has come up, I'll meet everyone back here for a debriefing of...everything going on right now.” He gestured his hand around as he spoke. “Hawkeye, please let everyone know what’s going on if they ask.”

“Yes, Sir,” she said as she quickly turned and left the two of them alone once more.

Roy was rubbing his brow now, frowning furiously. “I'm sorry, Ed, we'll have to postpone this conversation until later,” he uttered softly, and then he swept out of the room without another word, pulling the door shut on his way.

Ed sank back down into the sofa cushions, huffing an aggravated sigh. As if the situation hadn't been bad enough with entirely too many people possibly bearing witness to the state he had woken up in, Roy had seen. _Roy_ of all people. The one person he didn't want knowing what he'd been dreaming about. And fuck, while he was thinking about it, couldn't Colonel Dickhead have waited five more minutes to blaze into their room? Sheesh, talk about the worst timing ever.

He wondered at the goofy little look Roy had given him just after he'd called him by his first name. He hadn't had time to analyze it at the time, but now...what was that? It was a look of some sort of bemused clarity, like he'd just put something together.

Ed groaned as he dropped his head into his hands. Roy knew. He had fucking figured it out. Ed had been in the middle of the hottest fucking dream with none other than Roy himself, and Roy fucking knew it.

An image of Roy taking him in his mouth flashed across his memory in vivid clarity and he groaned for an entirely different reason. Why did Mustang have to be so fucking enticing? Why did Ed have to be so attracted to him when them having any kind of relationship was off the table. The military had rules against it, besides which, Roy didn't need Ed darkening his record. Especially when Roy was this close to achieving his goals.

And that was just his obligation to the military side of things. That didn't even include the fact that Roy would never be with him. They argue too much, and Ed could almost be his kid. They were separated by enough years. Fourteen between them. The idea of a relationship, or even just sex with Roy didn't bother him though, oddly enough. On the contrary, he kind of wished that he could pretend all those walls weren't standing in the way.

And what about Roy's reasoning for calling him by his name all the time lately? It clearly wasn't just to get a rise out of Ed, there was definitely some deeper reason for him doing it. Ed berated himself for even daring to hope that it was because Roy wanted all those things too, but just couldn't or wouldn’t act on them yet. But he couldn't help but think that just maybe he did. He was certainly being more friendly and, well almost flirty, of late.

Maybe he'd corner him after the team debriefing tonight and find out just what his real reasons...or intentions were.

Right now though, he really needed a shower. He scrunched his nose in disgust as he got up and crossed the room, grabbing up his bag. He propped it on the bed as he went through it. Nearly everything he'd brought with him was now dirty—they hadn't planned on staying that long in Rush Valley, which is what he'd initially packed for before he knew they'd be running all over Dublith chasing a young, mindless hooligan, who had actually done the right thing, in the end. It looked like they wouldn't be returning to East City any time soon though. At least not by train anyway, and it took too long to go by car. They would need to hit up some stores soon.

He grabbed his last pair of clean boxers—thankful that he had packed an extra pair, or that Al had made him pack an extra, at least—and headed for the bathroom. He would have to make do with the clothes he was wearing, but it would suffice for now. He thought of steaming them clean with alchemy, but he'd tried that once before and utterly failed at it. The shirt he'd tried it on had ended up with a hole burnt through the middle. He hadn't tried it again since. Maybe Al would do it later. He probably needed his clothes cleaned too, and he was better at it anyway.

He pulled the shower curtain back and turned the water on, letting it get hot as he undressed. He dropped his clothes into a little pile in the floor and stepped into the bathtub, under the hot spray. He closed his eyes and let the heat seep into him for a moment, before reaching for the little complimentary bottle of shampoo sitting on the edge of the tub.

The oddity of the thing struck him all at once and he almost laughed. The Madam had practically turned this place into an all around functioning hotel. If there was more variety of food, Ed would say that the place could be a bed and breakfast.

They would have to find a new place to move soon too, if they were going to be staying in Central. Which was the way it was starting to look. He wondered how long Madam Christmas was willing to let them stay there. Was she actually needing these rooms she'd just handed out to all of them so easily? Was it costing her customers and money to house them here for the night? He would have to ask her about that later.

He and Al could go stay at the military dorm temporarily. He had always hated them though. They were small, cramped, and the military issue beds were just as small and marginally uncomfortable to sleep on. Or they had been the last time he'd had to take a room here in Central—which was....several years ago? Before the Promised Day? ...Maybe they had improved since then. Half of Central had been rebuilt, after all. He couldn't remember how badly the dorms had been damaged from Father's wrath on Central and Amestris, or if they had sustained any damage at all. Guess they would be finding that out soon as well.

Ed finished rinsing his hair out and had his body washed in minutes. He just stood under the tap as the water sluiced over him, taking with it the visible evidence of the soapy lather. The warmth felt so good on his tired muscles, and for the first time since he had been rudely awakened, he'd wondered what time it was. It hadn't felt like a full night's sleep, but then again, with a vivid dream like the one he'd had taking over his brain, maybe he just hadn't been asleep enough to rejuvenate. Either way, he was up now, and really, he needed to be helping Al with keeping an eye on Todd.

Not that Al needed it, mind. He seemed to have gained Todd's trust. At this point he was mostly certain that Todd wouldn't try to leave, if for nothing else than because if it wasn't he and Al who had custody of him, it would be Central's military police. And it was just a guess, but Ed didn't think he'd be too fond of going with the military police.

Regrettably, he turned off the taps and stepped out, snagging a towel off the rack as he went. He toweled himself off quickly, then wrapped the towel around his bottom half and stepped out of the bathroom to check the time.

Well no wonder he was still tired. It had only been four hours since he and Mustang had walked to their rooms. Mustang sending him into a clusterfuck of thoughts and emotions, which led him to that fucking dream in the first place.

He yawned as he stepped back into the bathroom, belatedly thankful that the room was still empty. He wasn't normally all that modest, but then having a whole slew of people showing up suddenly at a moment like that, well... He just hoped Roy was the only one who had noticed his predicament. Al would have though, he was sure of it. His younger brother had always been highly observant, especially when it came to him. The difference was that he wouldn't hassle him about it like Roy. To be realistic, Al had caught him in that same predicament many many times over the years that they had traveled together.

Being stuck in unsleeping armor had given Al more insight on Ed than he ever would have willingly shared with anyone. It was annoying that he could still figure Ed out without having to try very hard, but Ed let it go. He wouldn't give up Al being back in his body for anything, and if Al wanted to nag him about his dreams, then so be it. He would take it.

He stepped into his boxers, and then followed them with his pants. He considered his appearance in the mirror, and clapped his wet hair dry before bending to grab his tank top off the floor and pulling it on over his head.

He walked out into the bedroom once more and grabbed up one of his gloves, pulling it on his right hand and sitting down on the sofa to separate his hair into equal parts to braid. It had taken him a while after he first got his automail to be able to manage a braid himself. It was so different when you couldn't feel the hair moving through your fingers, not to mention how bad it pulled if he didn't have a glove covering his automail hand when he did it.

Winry had done it for him once it got long enough to be a bother during his year recovering in Risembool, and even Al had mastered it in his armor before Ed got the hang of it enough to do it himself. Pulling it up into a ponytail was easier sure, but even up, it still got in the way when he had to fight, and it was long enough that it would get tangled up in the shoulder piece of his automail...which was why he had always worn it in a braid. It kept it out of the way while fighting and didn't get caught in his automail.

Twisting the tie snug around the end of his hair, he scooted down to the end of the couch where he had kicked his boots off when he laid down to sleep, and pulled them on. Well at least he felt better, if nothing else.

He needed coffee. It was still morning, though technically only barely, Madam Christmas had to have some made up with this many of Roy's men here, right? Mustang's men lived off of coffee, even in the afternoon. A habit Ed had found himself falling into in recent years.

He made his way downstairs, and where the upstairs had been serene and quiet, the bar room was buzzing with activity. It looked like a makeshift office, actually, if Ed had to compare it to something. Hawkeye was on the phone, jotting something down quickly; Miles and Breda, along with Havoc, to Ed's surprise, were discussing something while bent over one of the tables studying something Ed couldn't see on one of the many documents covering the table top; and Fuery was seated by himself at the far end of the bar, frowning as he worked single-handedly—literally, since his other arm was in a sling—and turned a dial on his radio, full concentration on what he was hearing through the headset. Mustang sat with Todd at a table in the corner, Al sitting at Todd's side.

“Hey, you finally made it down,” a voice came from behind him.

Ed turned to see Maria Ross standing behind him, hot cup of coffee held out in offering. Ed took it gratefully, thanking her with his eyes and gulping down half the cup as she laughed and went on.

“Sorry you had to be woke up like that. You can't have gotten much sleep,” she said sympathetically, and Ed winced.

“I guess you didn't get much sleep either, Lieutenant.”

She shook her head and glanced over at Mustang, who was currently running a hand through his hair as he said something across the table to Todd. “I slept a little on the train before, well, all the excitement...and Fuery caught a little bit of sleep while we waited at the hospital. We've had a little bit more than you and the Brigadier General.”

Roy did look tired though, Ed realized as he watched him. Ed had probably had more sleep than he had, actually. He'd been up before Douglas and his men showed up at least. Though he probably hadn't sat up with a complex for a half hour after he'd left Ed at his door either.

“How long has he been up?” he asked.

She shrugged and smiled sadly. “He was up before the rest of us. I think the Madam woke him when the MPs started calling this morning.”

Ed noticed belatedly that he hadn't seen Madam Christmas since he had woke up, and scanned the room once more.

“Mustang sent her back to bed after he got up,” Maria offered, noticing Ed's inquiry. “Since she stayed up until he got in, and then was up even longer talking.” They shared a guilty look, and then her eyes shifted over his shoulder, and she tipped her head back in a gesture and glanced back at him. “I think he wants you.”

Ed looked over his shoulder to see Roy and Al watching him, and turned back to Maria and nodded. “Thanks,” he held up his half empty cup, and added, “And for the coffee too.”

“No problem,” she said with a smile, and she turned and headed over to the table the majority of the team were still bent over.

He made his way across the room to the booth they were sitting in, snagging a chair from a nearby table as he got there. There was room enough for Ed to sit in the booth, of course, but it would have to be on Roy's side and Ed didn't want to push things with them right now. Especially since he wasn't quite sure where things actually stood between them. Or if there even was a “them” for there to be a thing between.

He turned the chair around backward and sat, propping an arm on the chair back and glancing around the table.

Todd hadn't looked up since Ed had started over. His shoulders were slumped, and he was looking down at the table and away from Ed. His eyes shifted to Al, and then Roy, but they both looked just as down and out—though less guilty than Todd looked. “What? What did you find out?”

“Evans,” Roy muttered softly, and Todd looked up, but Roy wasn't looking at him. “The name sounded familiar, but I hadn't been able to place it until now. General Evans was one of Father's little elite group he was manipulating under Bradley.”

Ed frowned, glancing back at Todd, but he hadn't moved since Roy had said his name.

“General Evans died on the Promised Day,” Roy continued. “His son, and his grandsons, however,” Roy's eyes trailed to Todd momentarily, before carrying on, “had been avid supporters of Bradley, though they were never a part of the military themselves.”

“My brother had planned to join up when he became of age a couple years after the Promised Day, but they turned him down. Wouldn't let him sign up,” Todd told the table. “Ever since then, he and my father have been hard to live with. I didn't care about it either way. I'd never been too fond of my Grandfather, and other than the Promised Day, I never had any reason to hate the military.”

He hesitated, meeting Ed's eye as he went on. “My father didn't like how much I kept up with the Fullmetal Alchemist, because he hated Mustang and anyone that had anything to do with him.”

He glanced quickly in Roy's direction, but Roy just gestured him to continue. Todd sighed and closed his eyes, sinking even more into his seat, if that was possible.

“I couldn't do it. Not when I saw you on that train,” he said. “My father and brother entrusted this mission to me to prove my loyalty to their cause, but I don't believe in it. That's why I tied my brother up and dismantled the bomb.”

“Where is your brother now, Todd?” Roy asked with a frown.

Todd shrugged and shook his head. “I don't know. I left him there when I got off in Dublith. I assume they found him in South City when they double checked and cleared out the cars? I didn't want to see him anyway. He and my father...the others, they will kill me if they ever find me.”

“No,” Roy told him. “That is not going to happen. I won't allow it. Your cooperation has been extremely helpful, Todd. Thank you for all your help.”

He huffed a little bitterly. “It's not like I had a choice.” He looked up and met their eyes honestly. “But if I did, I would help in any way I could.” He shook his head frustratedly. “What they are doing is wrong and...I don't agree with it. What they want for this country is going to throw us a major step backward instead of forward. Blowing up trains and causing chaos and harm to innocent people isn't the way to help this country.” 

Ed blinked as he took it all in. He'd known Todd was a total wimp, but that was passion right there. He'd just ignore the part about the Fullmetal Alchemist being his main driving factor to turn against his family's cause—whatever the heck that cause actually happened to be.

They talked for a little longer before Roy had to go meet with Fuhrer Grumman, and Todd told them that he really didn't know what their actual plans were. He hadn't been involved with most of their plotting, he'd only been told to do this mission or suffer the consequences—which were, apparently, death. Roy had told him that he would work things out with the military police (probably meaning he would put in a word with Grumman, Ed figured) so long as he stayed with them. Todd had jumped on it, relief pouring off of him in waves as he told them he'd help in whatever way he could. And hey, just like that they had gained a valuable ally. Who knew?


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay last chapter! :D Posting this one without a proper beta, cause I wanted to get this finished and up before NaNo kicks off. So apologies for any errors! Enjoy!

Roy was going to need about five more pots of coffee to make it through the day with the way things were going so far. He had only managed about two hours of sleep before his mother had woke him up to tell him about the military police harassing the phone. After the last call, she had politely told them that they could either wait a few hours until someone who could talk to them was awake, or just come by later.

Well. That message had clearly been misinterpreted and gone awry.

It had been a good thing he'd gotten up when he did. He wasn't even up a full hour before one of the girls came up and told him that the military police were there and were demanding to take their prisoner into custody. And for a moment, Roy had been glad he had already talked his mother into going back to bed.

The moment hadn't lasted long, though, and he found not only the military police downstairs, but Ross, as well as a couple of the girls, who were all trying to keep the men from going upstairs to search for the suspect. Who Roy himself hadn't even had a chance to interrogate. Though he had spoken with Al about him when he came down for food while Roy had been making himself a cup of coffee.

What followed was about what he had been expecting the previous night. Ever since Maria had come back to Amestris Douglas had kept an eye crooked in Mustang's direction. His ties with the military police, which had never been all that strong really, had definitely been lost since. Or some of them had anyway. Any pull he had had with Douglas—who had never really liked him in the first place, was gone though. But as he found out last night, there was someone new in charge of Central's military police now, and they actually seemed to be on Mustang's side. Or at least impartial, at any rate. He couldn't figure that Douglas liked being passed over on a promotion and his title handed over to someone of higher rank as a result.

What he hadn't expected was how they'd found Ed. Or at least how he was when Roy had walked into the room. It had been hard to ignore the tent he had going on. He had looked as if he'd been about to burst. His face was even tinged with embarrassment, and Roy couldn't imagine he'd gotten his breathing that worked up over being startled by a door.

Oh way to go Douglas, you just interrupted what must have been one mindblowingly amazing dream, going by the state Ed was in. Though he had a feeling Ed would not have agreed with him right then.

Once he'd gotten Douglas and the others to leave, he had been mildly disappointed to find that Ed's erection had gone as well, but hadn't been able to let it go unnoticed. Ed had naturally flipped out on him in embarrassment and fury. What had made Roy pause was him demanding to know why he'd been using his first name.

The first time he'd done it it had slipped out without his thinking about it. It had been shortly after Ed had come back to the military, and it had been hard to think of him as the same kid that had blown into his office a mere year after losing his arm and leg and demanded he make good on his promise to help him join the military all those years ago. He had grown up, and it was hard to remember that he was still the same Fullmetal, just older.

The difference now was that he wanted to call him by his first name if for no other reason than to acknowledge that he was still there, still human. Pride had referred to himself as Fullmetal after he had taken control of Edward's body and it had bothered Roy to no end. Whether Ed had remembered that or not, or if he'd remembered anything other than flashes of things Pride had forced him to do, he didn't know. He had gotten in touch with Al just after they had removed Pride, and he'd told him that Ed was blaming himself for everything Pride had done, but he was only able to recall the more serious things he had done. His memory from the moment that Pride had taken control had been spotty at best, Al had told him.

He wasn't going to tell Ed that. The Fullmetal Alchemist or Edward, they were one in the same person, and Roy didn't want to dampen his title by telling him. He did owe him an explanation though, and he would be telling him....soon. Sometime. As soon as this day was over.

Though he had to admit, watching Ed squirm had made the name-calling worth it.

He had been surprised when Ed had finally popped off his name when getting flustered about his embarrassment over the dream. And if it hadn't have been for the startled look on Ed's own face when he turned to face him, Roy might have thought that it was about some fling or dream girl that lived only in his fantasies. But the way that Ed had reacted, and how bothered he had been when Roy called him out. ...He couldn't possibly be having the same kinds of dreams he himself had been having, could he?

And maybe that's what the name thing was about for him, really. He was too afraid to act on his desires, so he confused the hell out of Ed by calling him by his name. He was flirting! He nearly laughed out loud as the thought occurred to him.

He didn't though, which was good because he was now sitting in Fuhrer Grumman's outer office, waiting to meet with him. He could only assume he was going to need more coffee after this. Grumman never seemed to have good news lately.

And when Grumman got in, Roy found out he had been right. He was temporarily giving him his old office back, but it would only be for a month, because that was when the Fuhrer would be retiring his seat. He said he needed the people to get used to seeing Roy around a bit before he stepped into the Fuhrer position, but three to four weeks was not a very long time to do that in, and Roy was going to be buried in paperwork on top of everything else to make the deadline in that amount of time. Grumman was adamant about it though, so Roy had nodded and kept his arguments to himself.

The announcement that Roy would be succeeding him was to be made next week. This was going to be _great_.

They talked a bit about the previous night's events, and a bit more in depth about what had happened with the train bombings and any developments there. (They still didn't know much more than they had.) And Grumman called the military police station up while Roy was there and took care of that situation for him. The Evans kid's arrest would be waived so long as he stayed in their custody and Roy took full responsibility for him. Which he had readily agreed to. (Roy hadn't mentioned how much of a good source of information this Todd kid was proving to be. Or how loyal to Roy's cause he seemed to be.)

Roy had headed back to Madam Christmas's to inform his men, plus Havoc—who hadn't really left them since they'd got in the night before, and who had brought Catalina along; Alphonse—who was just days away from joining his team anyway; his mother and a few of the girls he called his sisters that worked for her.

The mood had gone from companionable—the team had been catching up with Havoc and Catalina while he'd been gone—to somber as their meeting had gone on.

The prospect of having an office was definitely good though, at least they would be able to get out of his mother's hair. She had informed him that any of his people could stay there at her place until they found somewhere to stay, which was kind of her, but he was going to try not to encroach on her hospitality for too very long. Thankfully his men seemed to be of the same opinion.

Ed and Al were already talking about moving into the military dorms on campus until they found an apartment to move into, and Al was already offering to let Todd stay with them, much to Edward's obvious dismay.

It was nearly eight o'clock in the evening by the time they had talked everything through, and Roy was to the point where coffee was no longer having much of an effect. His subordinates slowly trailed out—even Ross and Fuery were moving to the dorms tonight. The Elrics and Todd would be staying there another night, and his aunt had refused to let Roy go anywhere else for the night. He really couldn't argue there, he hadn't been too excited about the idea of going back across town to the dorms himself.

He was sitting at the bar, head propped on his hand as he finished a drink. His mother had pushed one at him when he'd plopped down to talk with her a bit after the meeting with his team. He scanned the room. It was mostly empty now. Only a few of his sisters, his mother, and the Elric brothers, along with the Evans kid they'd assumed custody for were left.

Ed had offered to continue keeping an eye on Evans when Roy informed them of his agreement with Grumman. He had been intending to ask them anyway, but he was kind of thankful he didn't have to. Contrarily he'd figured Ed would have complained about being stuck with him longer. Roy knew he wasn't fond of him initially, which was ironic really, since Todd seemed to be such a fan of his.

Ed glanced his way almost as if he had heard Roy's thoughts. He frowned in question, and Roy shook his head and smiled tiredly to convey that nothing was up. Ed relaxed a bit, then turned and said something to Al and slid out of the booth they'd taken up when the last of Roy's men filed out. He made his way over and sat on one of the stools beside him.

“Everything okay?” he asked, surprisingly sincere, studying him closely.

“Yeah,” he paused to yawn. “M'just tired.”

Ed huffed a laugh, rolling his eyes. “Not to mention all the shit that's happened over the past couple days, you mean? Or hell, this past week? I'd be surprised if you weren't. Even if you had gotten a full night's sleep.”

Ed had a point. It had been one thing after another since his call to Central, and he only seemed to be getting deeper and deeper into the chaos. Every time he thought he couldn't possibly handle more work on his plate, something new turned up to make his life that much more complicated. After spending so much of his time pouring himself into a single cause: the restoration of Ishval, he would almost give anything to go back to it now. At least he got more sleep then. Granted more nightmare fueled sleep than usual, but that was to be expected.

Ed was squinting his eyes at Roy again, scrutinizing him.

He just raised his eyebrows in question.

“Well, I came over to ask if we could finish that conversation we were having earlier, but...you look like hell.”

Roy laughed out loud. “How eloquent of you.”

Ed just shrugged. Then his eyes widened and he blinked at him. “Wait, no Ed or Edward? Not even a Fullmetal? You really must be tired.”

Roy kind of wanted to talk to him though. Ed always stirred up his emotions and made him forget all his other responsibilities and concerns, whether in anger or amusement or just casual banter, and...well, he kind of needed that right now. He was tired—exhausted, but he had too much on his mind at the moment that even if he tried to go to sleep right now, his thoughts would keep him up for hours. And that was all he needed.

“Which would you prefer?” Roy asked, and it surprised him when he actually wanted to know the answer.

Ed opened his mouth, then closed it as Madam Christmas walked past on the other side of the bar, and glanced around, gesturing over his shoulder. “Can we...?”

Roy nodded, understanding his question, and gestured toward the stairs as he finished off his drink and stood. “We can talk in my room.”

They made their way up the stairs and past the room Ed, Al, and Todd were staying in, and Ed stopped at Roy's door to let him open it. His room was much the same as Ed's, but he'd offered his just in case Al or Todd decided they wanted to retreat back to their room or turn in early. Or both, rather. His was more guaranteed privacy.

Ed glanced around, likely noting the similarities in the rooms, and walked over to the sofa and sat. “Huh. Figures. This one is more comfortable, and bigger,” he said pushing a little on the cushion beside him with his left hand. Before Roy could ask, Ed frowned and said “Did you pick the furniture out for this place?”

The question was so out of place that his tired mind could only come up with a, “What are you talking about?”

“Well, I mean, you bought this place right?”

“I merely funded the money to Madam Christmas,” he told him. “She found the property and furnished it, or found someone to furnish it, I'm guessing.”

“Oh. Well. That sofa was really uncomfortable to sleep on.”

Roy smirked. “Not that you had any trouble with it once you got to sleep.”

“Shut up,” Ed said, but his words had no force behind them. “So...”

“So,” Roy replied.

Ed sighed, a little exasperated. “The name thing?”

“You never answered my question downstairs,” Roy prompted.

Ed stared at him a long moment, then sat back and closed his eyes, taking a breath. Roy thought he had been about to give him his answer, but instead he said, “I asked you first.”

“Fair enough,” Roy conceded. He still didn't know what he was going to say to him. Not really. He couldn't just come out with 'I say your name because I want to.' or 'I say it because it means you're real.' It was more than he wanted to admit to. Especially since Ed shouldn't—couldn't be sharing his feelings. Roy was fourteen years his senior and far too old for Ed to be lusting after. And he himself was a perverted old man for lusting after Ed.

“Look,” Ed said when he hadn't said anything more, “I know it's not just to get a rise out of me. It's part of it, knowing you, bastard, but it's not the whole reason.”

There was no bite in Ed’s words and Roy stared at him. Wait, was this actually turning into a civil conversation? This was one for the record books...

“It wouldn't bother me so much if you didn't make it a big deal,” he continued, frown creasing his brow. “It's like you're flirting with me or something and it's _really_ fucking confusing!”

Roy couldn't think of anything to say to that.

Ed's eyes widened. “You bastard! You are, aren't you?” he said, little amused grin forming on his face at the discovery. “You're fucking flirting with me.”

“Would it be so hard to believe that I just like calling you by your name now?” Roy asked instead of confirming or denying Ed's revelation.

“Yeah, it is.” Ed frowned at him. “What I don't get is...what changed, Mustang? Or am I supposed to call you _Roy_ now?”

Roy hesitated a moment, but finally closed his eyes and replied, “No. If any of the higher ups heard--”

“I know that!” Ed interjected, cutting him off. “Just, this whole thing has me really fucking confused. I just don't get why! Other than the flirting thing.” He paused for a beat and then looked at him seriously. “Is that what it is?”

Roy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Might as well tell him the truth of it then. “I called you by your title once you became a state alchemist because of protocol.”

Ed scoffed and eyed him disbelievingly. “Protocol my ass, Mustang. No one refers to you as 'Flame' when they're addressing you. Just like you don't call Major Armstrong 'Strong Arm'. It's always been different, with me.”

Roy yawned and raised his eyebrows amusingly, speaking after he'd recovered. “Would you rather me have called you Major Elric? You weren't military trained, and you weren't there for the rank, calling you by your title seemed appropriate at the time.” He shrugged and continued after a beat. “Then it just became habit.

“What changed, Edward,” Roy caught his eye and gave him a meaningful look, “was you.”

It dawned on Ed all at once, and mixed emotions flashed across his face. He looked away almost shamefully as he whispered, “Pride.”

“No,” Roy said firmly, and Ed’s eyes shot back to him at the force of his words. “You. You changed, Ed. Partly because of what Pride did to you, yes. But it wasn't him specifically. It was you. And now...” _You've grown up. Into a_ very _attractive man,_ Roy wanted to say, but didn't.

“And now?” Ed prompted.

“Do you remember much of what Pride said while he possessed you?” Roy asked, diverting the question and ignoring the wince he got at his words.

“Only what he let me see and hear.” Ed frowned. “It's hard to explain. It was like being trapped inside yourself with no connection to the outside world. All your senses are set to off unless the thing in control of you flips the on switch. You're just...there. Stuck inside of the stupid homunculus' mind. Existing. You can talk to him, but other than annoy the fuck out of him—which I did—there wasn't much else I _could_ do.”

Roy nodded, listening. This was the first time Ed had ever opened up to him about what he'd gone through with Pride. Roy himself tried to refrain from bringing it up around Ed because of how haunted and guilt-ridden it made him when he thought about it.

Suddenly Ed turned away from him, looking toward the wall. “It's something I did, isn't it? While I was being mind-fucked by that thing.”

“No,” Roy interjected. “It's not anything you did. ...Pride...well, he gloated and called himself by your title. The few times we got through to you in the short time I was there it was only by calling out your name.”

Ed whipped around, glaring at him. “I'm not possessed anymore, Mustang,” he said lowly.

“I know that,” Roy replied, a little rougher than he had intended, and he sighed to try and take the bite out of his words. “But that's why. I know Pride is gone and you're here, but...it helps. I can go back to calling you Fullmetal if you want,” he offered.

“No,” Ed responded almost immediately, and Roy stared at him. “It's just, well, I don't mind it all that much when you do. It's kind of...nice, actually.” His smile was nervous and twitchy and Roy couldn't help but think of how adorable Ed looked when he was stumbling over what he was trying to say.

And then he realized what he was thinking and tried to divert his thoughts to something else. He was tired, and being tired was like being drunk. He was more prone to giving in to his temptations like this. He couldn't let this conversation go on much longer.

Metal glinted across his vision, and Roy blinked.

“Still with me here?” Ed said, waving his automail hand in front of Roy's face.

He shook off his thoughts (all of them), and told him, “Yeah, I'm just tired.”

Ed tipped his head toward the door. “I should go. Let you sleep.”

Roy nodded, against everything he wanted to say or do, and Ed stood, but made no move toward the door.

“Yes, Edward?” Roy asked as he got to his feet. “Was there something else?”

Ed shook his head, and, for some reason, flushed a bit, before turning away from Roy. “No, there wasn't anything else. Just...have a good night.”

“Yeah, you too.” Roy answered.

And the moment was broken. Whatever had been holding Ed in place was gone as he walked over to the door. He turned and smiled as he opened it and said, “Thanks, Mustang. For telling me.”

Roy smiled. “Goodnight, Ed.”

“Night,” he replied and walked out.

Roy shook his head and ran a hand over his face as soon as the door snicked into place, sighing through his fingers. If Ed had stayed much longer… No, he couldn’t go there. He just needed to get some sleep, he reasoned with himself. He was bone tired now, and had a good chance at a full night’s sleep, and a clear head in the morning. This...thing would be easier to deal with tomorrow. And yet he hadn’t moved since Ed had wandered out of his room.

He was quietly listening for the retreating footsteps either going the short distance to the room Ed was in or on down the hall back downstairs, but there had been nothing. No sound from the other side of the door.

Blowing out his breath after nearly a minute of waiting, knowing the risky game he was playing, Roy gathered his wits and crossed to the door, stepping as lightly as he could. He thought of pressing his ear to the crack to try and gather what Ed was doing, but dismissed it as soon as it had come.

Finally, he slowly and gently opened the door, not knowing what to expect on the other side of it.

Ed was staring at him in mild surprise and embarrassment, before turning slightly and thumbing over his shoulder. “I’ll just--”

Roy hadn’t been aware of what he was doing until his fingers closed around a sleeve and tugged. Ed had flowed forward before he’d had a chance to put any force behind the pull. Before he knew it, Roy’s back hit the wall inside his room and he came to his senses and held out a hand before anything more could happen. Ed’s chest crashed into it and he immediately stepped back frowning.

“What? Isn’t this--” He cut himself off as he looked away, glaring at the floor. “You pulled me! What was I supposed to think?”

Well this had turned into a mess. Roy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. I...shouldn’t have done that.”

Ed was staring at him, eyes searching his own. “What do you want, Roy? Cause if that was supposed to lead me to believe anything else, I’m really fucking confused.”

“It’s--that--” He fumbled over the words. He was much too tired for this kind of conversation. Finally, he settled himself, looked straight at Ed and said, “We can’t do this, Ed. _I_ can’t do this. The country comes first and there’s too much g--”

He stopped at the sight of Ed’s hand held up between them.

“I got it. Okay? I _know_ duty comes first, _especially_ with you.” Ed’s words were bitter and Roy could see the hurt he’d put there under the glare in his eyes. “Just don’t act like this--and flirt, and then just expect…”

The air rushed out of him harshly and he stood there staring for long enough that Roy expected him to go on with his rant. That he was entirely justified in having! A part of Roy wanted to rally with Ed and let him press him into the wall. But then Ed’s eyes slid past Roy to the door, and Roy knew he was done talking.

“Just let me know when you sort yourself out, Mustang,” he uttered incredibly calmly as he made for the door.

Roy didn’t even turn until he’d heard the door close.

* * *

In the days that followed, Ed had managed to completely avoid him. It was now nearly a week later, and Ed hadn’t so much as spoken to him outside of team meetings or matters that were strictly business. They’d all been so busy, especially Roy himself, that no one had had any time for personal matters anyway.

Ed wasn’t talking much in the meetings, letting Al answer most of the questions pertaining to Todd, and only giving his own input when needed. He’d hardly even looked in Roy’s direction since that night in Roy’s room, and to say that it bothered him--well, it did. But they both knew that what he’d said was the truth. He couldn’t afford the distraction of a relationship, and especially one the likes of which they would have. It wasn’t the time or the place for it. So Roy let him ignore him and pretend there was nothing there. So long as they could still work together, that was what mattered now.

No matter how he felt about it.

* * *

Grumman’s announcement of his successor came with a mixed reaction. Some were happy to hear that Roy would be taking the seat. Others were worried he wouldn’t be able to handle it, and still more seemed to be against it.

The papers the next day gave them a good feel for the temperature of the country. The support for Mustang was there, but it was dulled by the negative opinions and rants about his character and young age.

_He's too young! The murderous Flame Alchemist of Ishval couldn’t run a country!_

“You’re going to need to step up security, Sir,” Hawkeye told him.

“No.”

He knew exactly what she meant. He didn’t need a bodyguard, he was the Flame Alchemist! He could handle himself.

He didn’t have to say any of that. The sympathetic look she gave him, although tinged with annoyance, let him know she already knew.

“This isn’t about your ego, Sir. It’s about your safety. You should have someone with you at all times.”

Roy raised an eyebrow and her serious demeanor cracked a bit as her lips quirked at the corners. “You know what I mean. People can sneak in while you’re at home and--”

Roy was shaking his head. “I’m not the Furher yet, Hawkeye. I don’t need a bodyguard. I’ll be fine.” He held up a gloved hand in hopeful reassurance.

Her frown deepened and he continued before she could lecture him more. “When it comes up on the ceremony, and thereafter once I’m Fuhrer, yes, I’ll keep someone around. Though maybe not in my room,” he added, eying her pointedly.

She did smirk now, but it fell away rather quickly and he could see her conceding defeat on the topic.

“Can’t I enjoy my freedom a little while longer?” he asked.

Her eyes were soft, yet tinged with worry as she looked at him. “Just be careful, Sir. We’re too close now.”

He smiled, touched by the trust she was granting him.

“I will, Hawkeye. I will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Story to be continued in _Tides of Change_
> 
> Wow. So this a big accomplishment for me. I have never finished a chapter fic before! Granted I know I turned this one into a series (oops), but I've always had the worst luck with *finishing* chapter fics. (If you've ever wondered why I have so many oneshots, that would be the reason.) Yaaaaaay!! \o/
> 
> Thanks for reading, guys. All of your support for this has meant so much to me. _Tides of Change_ is currently a work in progress, set to pick up around a month later in this 'verse, and is my planned project for NaNoWriMo this year, so hopefully I'll be posting that one up in the next couple months or so! So if you want to find out what happens next (and finally see some of that UST resolved), keep an eye out! Or subscribe to Storm 'Verse [here](http://archiveofourown.org/series/168629)! :)


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